The 24th of July is a state holiday and while my work doesnt give the day off from work, I took it off anyway. My 5 year old has been just bouncing off the walls for a chance to go fishing so we broke out the boat, cleaned'er up and headed to a lake where fishing was supposed to be ok. We arrived and promptly started catching fish. They werent exactly monsters but nice fish and really, anything on the pole of a 5 year old is worth watching. He even got in the action of trying to net the ones me and my wife caught.

After an hour of catching fish every couple of min, throwing back the littler ones, we had plenty to smoke so we decided to try something different and go for "crawdads" as this lake has lots of them. We move the boat over about 15ft from a rocky shore and anchor off. We dig out some chicken drumsticks I had, tied some braided line to them and we start heaving them overboard. Within a minute I pulled out the first one... from there it was quite amusing to watch my boy try and catch them as well as my wife. We moved the boat a couple more times as we would catch them all in an area... when we finally decided to call it a day we had about 50-60 of the little lobsters.

It was fun to get out and enjoy the outdoors, and even more fun to watch a little boy discover the fun and excitement as well. Cant wait for fall to take him along on some hunting trips.


-DallanC

Sounds like a good day all around. You deserve the time off, especially after all the work you put in around here. The best to you and your family.

Dallan,

Its good you took a day off.

Crawdad fishing, I havnt done that in a while, last time I got one I was fishing for trout and saw one in the water .... lets just say it met the might my knife as it tryed running backwards.

Dimitr

Yea Buddy! You were due for some time out in the fresh air. Your bug chasers were driving you nuts! Your little lobster catching technique is worth a try. Lots a fishing holes around here to try it in.
Glad you had some fun with the family and hello from us to your gang.

Well done Dallan. Fishing is great stress relief, but nowhere near as good as spending the day relaxing with your family.

Its good to hear you were catching fish....all I ever do is feed the buggers to fatten them up for others to catch. I love taking my grandkids fishing for the same reasons you enjoy taking your little fella...its fantastic fun.

Crawdads? Hm, they sound a bit like what we call yabbies. Just checked them out on the net.....yep, they sure are.

Aussie Yabbies

MMMMMMMM...they are great to eat.

A way I have caught them in the past (and its great for little kids) is to put a bit of scrap meat in the bottom of one of the wife's OLD stockings (make sure it is an old one if you want to live ). Tie a piece of line to the top, either fishing line or cord, then drop it into the water. The cray grab the meat through the stocking and get caught up. You still have to be careful about how you bring them in but it makes it a bit easier for the little'uns. You can even do this from the bank.

Glad you could get out for a day mate, and I feel sure that your family are even happier.

Cheers mate,

Vince