A good day fishing.

I took the kids fishing today, and I'm proud to say that no one fell in the water or got hooked. Travis even learned how to cast with an open face reel!
We went to Carbuncle Pond and fished from the dock. Travis had his own pole with its' Zebco reel, and was set up with a hook, bait and bobber. Ella had my spare pole, also with a bait and bobber setup. I had my flatfish lure. After a short time I caught a smallmouth bass, and Travis kept asking, "How did you catch that fish?! How?" Once I got it up on the dock, it flipped off the hook and flopped around the way they do. Ella was saying "Catch it, get it back in the water!" I did catch it, and let the kids touch it before I tossed it back.
Five minutes later, the resident great blue heron flew over to a tree not far from us. I have seen this bird on several occasions and he often comes right down on the dock looking for handouts. Travis knows this, too, and was determined to catch the birds' dinner. He figured if my lure caught the only fish so far, he'd have to use my setup. I showed him how to use the open face reel, and in two casts, he got it! The kid is a prodigy.
Ella became interested in watching the heron through my binoculars. She would comment, "He's preening. Now he's looking at us." She also "spied" on the people further down the pond who were swimming.
Meanwhile, Kayla fished for a bit, then made herself comfortable on the folding chair, playing with the rubber worms (no hooks).
All in all, a fun and successfull day.