The Gadfly: Passing The Torch…Er, Pole

Mike McCarville

Growing up in central Arkansas, I spent many a weekend afternoon fishing with my folks. I used a cane pole, short line, hook, bobber and fat worms. Did the same in northern Michigan, often through the ice on Lake Cadillac. Seemed magical to me that I could throw my line in the water and catch a fish.

My daughters were not much into fishing, but when grandsons Colby and Mike were big enough to hold a rod and reel, I started taking them fishing, That was as much for me as for them; the smiles on their faces when they caught a fish was a great joy to me.

Ann and I did the same thing with grandson Kevin; his I-just-caught-one grins covered his face from ear to ear.

When grandson Mike came to live with us, fishing became our favorite pasttime. We fished all over the place, from a small lake in Mustang to Lake Draper to Lake Arcadia to Lake Tenkiller to Lake Thunderbird to Lake Okemah. Mike became an excellent fisherman, often far outdoing his grandpa.

Then Mike started fishing with his buddies and I got out of the habit.

When I retired, I said I was going to wet my fishing line regularly. Didn’t work out that way.

So, when Mike last week suggested we go fishing with his daughter Kaydnce and Colby, I jumped at it.

Saturday morning, we went to a pond in the front yard of the home of Mike’s wife’s grandparents in eastern Oklahoma County.

Mike no sooner had Kaydnce’s small, pink/purple rod and reel baited up than a perch jumped on the hook. It happened again…and again…and again.

Each time she’d catch one, Kaydnce would squeal and her face would light up. She even learned how to hold a largemouth by its lower lip and how to flip the tip of her pole to get the bait a few more feet into the water.

We fished for a few minutes, each of us catching a few. I first caught a Bluegill, then a largemouth bass.

Then Kaydnce hooked a fish that bent her little pole almost double. It was a nice largemouth, shown in the photo above held by Mike as Kaydnce enjoys her catch.

I told Mike and Colby they needed only to look at Kaydnce’s face to understand why I always enjoyed taking them fishing. Grandpa’s reward.


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