A couple weeks ago I took my brother in law and his 3yr old daughter fishing out at Cranberry Lake in Deception Pass. I managed to bring in a pretty decent Rainbow, and my little niece just LOVED the experience.
We had the opportunity to try it again a couple days later, so we decided we better pick up a "kiddie" pole. We found a $7.00 shakespeare spinning combo on clearance at Joes and off we went.
She didn't have much patience with a bobber, so we hooked her up with a casting plug. She caught the only "fish" of the day.
Last Friday rolled around and the fishing bug bit again...unfortunately, there wasn't much time to head out to any of the favorites. I decided it was a PERFECT time to get my niece her first fish.
I swung by and sweet talker my sister into packing up and heading just east of town to the Northern State Hospital Pond - A juvenile's only pond. There was a fishing derby there 2-3 weeks ago, and they stock the heck out of this little pond. I remember fishing there when I was little, and limiting out in less than 10 minutes on derby day!
Water quality was terrible--thick, muddy water with a putrid stench. It was hot and muggy...but we kept watching a 'bow roll on the surface in the middle of the pond. It took about 30 minutes, but he finally fell for the bait.
Ashlyn caught her first fish, EVER!
Sorry about the poor picture quality...I had to crop the heck out of them so it was just her in the pictures. The toes, arms, and legs are all her father...so I don't want any flip-flop comments coming back to ME!
You can bet she spent all weekend telling everyone all about her first fish...and yes, in case you were wondering she's already started telling tales. I could've sworn it was only ~11 inches long....but that's not how she tells it!
