2/25/2019 Back at Sardis For More Whiskerfish
Fresh off a successful trip to Sardis where Landry caught a catfish and a “drum fish”, I was once again suckered into going fishing with my five year old girl in rather poor conditions simply because this girl loves the outdoors and I love her love of the outdoors.
Posing on the riprap
She insisted we fish “on the place we can do rock collecting” (notice what’s in her hand) which really means she wants to fish the riprap. That’s good because that’s often where the fish are. Riprap or rocks provides shelter/cover for baitfish, crawfish, and game fish and can be reliably fished year round for one or more species inhabiting essentially any body of water.
She was very concerned about the people who “owned the lake” not mowing the grass
Our plan was to return to Engineer’s Point Boat Ramp at Sardis Lake but the cove we fished Sunday was flooded and the parking lot was closed. We opted instead to fish a rocky point between two coves back toward the marina. The water was highly stained and there was a ton of debris which made for its own set of challenges.
Holding her fourth catfish and pointing at the bucket that held our harvest
The way we fished was pretty simple. We had zebco 33 reels on cheap Shakespeare Durango, Zebco Hotcast, and Classic Editon rods rigged with a fishfinder set up. We wedged the poles between the rocks and fished on the bottom using live night crawlers on 6 eagle claw baitholder snells below a brass eagle claw swivel weighted with two model PEG8 water gremlin 1/2 oz egg sinkers.
Dees always sets about to playing while I get pokes out and wait for a bite. I usually bring toys, but today we both forgot. She amused herself by playing with Dublin, picking grass, and throwing away trash she found on the rocks.
At some unknown point into our outdoor play date, a fish struck my hot cast and nearly pulled the pole into the water. I missed the fish, but was pleased to see we were on to something. I repositioned the other poles near the strike and then we started making progress. 5:04pm after several bites and misses, we connected with a catfish.
Now that the fish are biting, Dees has to potty. We opted for the squat pop and dad jacket. We paused for a couple of selfies.
One sweet
One serious
5:35pm another fish on. Dees fights and lands it and the dad universe is on fire.
Proud of the second catch of the day
Tying yesterday’s two fish tally, I suggest we consider heading home soon. Not a chance Dad. “Can we just catch one more fish?”
5:47pm Sure, why not. We hook another catfish that Dees fights and lands and I suspect we could have done this for several more hours but it was getting dark and time to go.
When we left I was both amazed and amused at how easy it is to make an outdoor memory. We did almost nothing to craft an enjoyable experience that gives a child an opportunity to grow and explore, to develop and hone ancient skills of survival and to maintain a crucial connection to her inherent wild heart. We did this by going outside together, in pursuit of fun and adventure and with purpose, confidence and only the most basic of gear and know how. We did this and will continue to do this and anyone else who wants to can and should do it too. If you need some help figuring out how to start, let me know. I’d be humbled and honored to help.