Cooking on the Front Burner Again

After a recent drought in fishing activities, NP seems to be on a roll again. He hooked a large flat head last night and the fish broke the line. It was heartbreaking because the fish broke it right at the dock, before I could get my net on him. I could tell he was a pretty big one, my guess would have put him over 30. NP tried to man handle the fish a little to much. Since it was only 14lb test, it snapped at a last sudden turn from this large fish. NP was quite upset.

Tonight the same thing happened early on, but this time on 20lb test line. Once again I thought he was trying to muscle the fish. I repeated to him the importance of playing the fish and giving him the respect he deserves. Thirty minutes later NP lost another large fish, but this one was in a cast net he had tossed out to get fresh bait.

I saw my son mature from the previous night, because he seemed to handle both losses without any words of anger or frustration. I think catching the large channel cat you see here, helped heal the wounds from all those loses. Now he is learning to appreciate the fact that it is not the size fish that matters, it's the fight and thrill the catch gives you. Neal Patrick seems to certainly be back in the groove once again. Tomorrow is our last day of fishing until he comes home again, next friday.