This was another one day work week, but my trip Wednesday with my old friend of ten years, Bob McGuire, will go down as one of my most memorable. Bob arranged this trip for his four year old grandson, Caden, and of course his dad, Mark. Bob wisely wants to plant in Caden the seeds of love for the water and fishing.
Dawn was breaking as we loaded up the boys and headed to the B span for bait. It promised to be a beautiful day, and we had the makings of a fantastic sunset on the horizon. It's my favorite time of day.
The water was moving out, and would be most of the morning. With Bob tossing the chum slightly up the current, we were loaded with beautiful bait in perhaps seven throws. Caden was fascinated with the goings on, but a little timid about picking up the minnows that made it to the floor of the cockpit, at first. After a quick cleanup and some head squeezing to clear the net, we were ready to fish.
I had discussed with Bob the idea that the trip needed to be all about Caden. I'd brought along a shorter rod for him to use, albeit with some supervision. I was just interested in finding a good bite of some kind of fish that he could handle, which meant ladyfish and trout. As we rode west toward the Sound I watched for the tell-tale signs of fish busting bait, and/or birds diving on bait. We hadn't gone far before I found what I was looking for. I came around and put the breeze at my back, and deployed the PowerPole.
From that moment on for the next nearly three hours, virtually every bait that hit the water was eaten. The bite began with lots of big ladyfish and a few trout, but quickly evolved into a big trout bite with ladyfish and jacks thrown in. Everyone was having fun, especially Bob. Caden lasted perhaps an hour before he went back and sat down behind the console. When Pop-Pop (Bob) asked him if he was tired he said, "I caught too many fishes!"
I wondered right there if Caden would soon be whining and wanting to go home, as you would expect from a typical four year old. But, not him. He was perfectly happy to sit out, and entertained himself with all the new things he'd not seen before, like a hook disgorger, the Boga Grip, bait net, the myriad of switches and knobs, and of course, the bait. I couldn't have asked for a better four year old.
Meanwhile, Bob and Mark were catching as fast as they could go, and Bob was really having fun with all the keeper trout in the water. We didn't get an accurate count of how many fish we caught, nor how many keeper trout they caught, but it was a truck load. We kept two limits for the guys to take home to dinner, but could have loaded the well with trout.
Eventually, Caden did begin to protest, but it wasn't about going home. He wanted to go for a boat ride! He wanted to go fast! So, I suggested that since Caden wasn't fishing, we go to a nearby spot and see if we could catch a couple of quick snook and then go to lunch. I put Caden between my legs and let him run the boat, with a little behind the scene help from me.
Once at our spot, I anchored, baited three rigs, and tossed a couple of bats full of chum. It took a couple of minutes to get the first blow on the chum, but once I did Bob and Mark quickly boated a snook and redfish. The red joined the crowd in the well.
Shortly after that the tide stopped dead in its tracks, and didn't resume once the tide actually turned. We were all hungry, so it was off to the Waterfront Restaurant for a fantastic lunch. It was just too good. Mark and I had a combination of Bahamanian cracked conch and the famous calamari. Bob had the crab stuffed portobello mushroom, and I couldn't get over how big it was. JD and his girls do an awesome job and serve up world class food.
Back at the ramp I quickly cleaned the fish while Mark held the boat off the dock and Caden slept off the morning's activities. He'd fallen asleep as soon as we were under way, and didn't wake up even after we were back at the ramp. He was still asleep when his dad carried him off. I guess the sun had really knocked it out of the little guy.
It was a wonderful time, and a trip I will not soon forget. Hopefully, Pop Pop has planted the seeds in Caden that will stay with him for a lifetime of fishing.