Fishing

Yesterday was the day my grand girls went fishing for the first time. My wishes were each girl caught a fish, no one got hurt, and they had fun. All three of my wishes were fulfilled at Schwanz Lake in Eagan. The DNR sticks some urban lakes with panfish so kids can enjoy fishing. Plus this spot had bathrooms and a playground so it was perfect. We got to the dock and when we looked down from the fishing pier we could see thirty sunfish looking up at us. I had bought some cheap kid sized fishing rods. I avoided the Frozen rods, the Spiderman rods, and the Paw Patrol rods and went with the trusty red Zebco rods. I loved my Zebco 202 when I was a kid. I bought a kit that had bobbers, weights, hooks, and this pink and green fake bait made out of dough and smelled fishy. I wasn't sure if hooking a live worm in front of the girl's eyes would traumatize them. We proceeded to fish. A man with a 10 year old girl were also fishing and having more luck. I asked him what he was using for bait. He showed us the tiny hooks. We already had those. Then he showed us the mealworms and offered us some. I offered to pay but he insisted we take them for free and gave us six. We used the meal worms. Success! Grand daughter #1 caught a sunny. She was scared of it. After landing it on the dock she backed up. I offered to take it off the hook. She did not want to touch it or come near it. I asked her if the wanted to kiss it on the lips before I put it back like Offspring #2 used to do and she was rightly horrified at the suggestion. We put it back in the water and it swam away. I can't remember the last time I went fishing. I think it has to be at least a quarter of a century since I wetted a line. This was fun! But I didn't have a license so if the girls didn't want to fish we had to quit. We were about to quit because a turtle would not leave us alone. The turtle kept swimming toward our hooks. I have never been so harassed by a painted turtle before. We tried the other end of the dock and the turtle followed us. We were about to leave for the playground when the man offered to let Grand daughter #2 reel in a fish he already had on his line. I helped her reel it in and pose for a photo. Such a kind stranger we met! Technically she didn't catch the fish because he did but it was close enough. She got to feel the tug as she pulled it in. We went up to the playground and found this green darner dragon fly. This dragon fly was near the end of it's life which is why it let me get a good photo.

My daughter-in-law has the SEEK app on her phone which is part of the I Naturalist program that many of my friends use. I found this bug on my water bottle. Grand daughter #1 thought it was a spider eating a fly. I couldn't see it that well until I magnified it with my phone camera. The SEEK app confirmed it was a jumping spider. I refrained from drinking water until the jumping spider finished it's meal and found another spot to rest. Before we left the park we creatively "drew" pictures on the concrete floor of the picnic shelter with our water bottles. I tried to draw a face and as the water soaked into the hot concrete my water drawing morphed into a portrait of John Lennon. Seriously!  John Lennon! Even Offspring #1 thought it looked like John Lennon. We drew lions and horses and fairies and fish and all sorts of creatures. Today was a day full of family, nature, fishing, and many hugs. A perfect day for me.