July 17, 2006
"First" fish
I headed out to the Roanoke River Friday morning for a short paddle with Seth Gitner, the multi-media editor for The Roanoke Times. He wanted to shoot some video for this blog, and also for The Timescast, our paper's daily video Webcast.
The river was in perfect condition for fishing, flowing about twice normal for this time of year and a great green. Last time Seth and I were on the water -- I was bowfishing at Smith Mountain Lake -- he got bored out of his skull. I don't blame him. I don't know how those guys who shoot every second of action in bass tournaments do it.
So a few days he bought a fishing license. His first ever, I think.
I hooked him up with the little Shakespeare ultralight spincast outfit I recently got for my kids. The lure? A Rebel Wee Craw, one of the best, easiest-to-fish lures for river smallmouths and redbreast sunfish.
I told him to cast as close as possible to the bank and he did a pretty good job of it. After a few missed strikes he finally hooked up with a hand-sized redbreast sunfish. He fought it like a champ.
"This is my first fish," he said, proudly. "At least since I was a teen-ager."
He asked how much I paid for the rod and reel combo.
"Twenty bucks," I said.
He's going to get one.
Awesome.
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