April 6, 2012 marked a momentous event in our family history. It was the first time that all four of us had ever been out on the boat together! For our youngest, it was his first time on a boat, ever, but he acclimated pretty quickly after a few surprised looks and one request to go back to the car. All it took was a fishing pole in his hand and a baby night crawler on his hook, and he was smiling and laughing. For me, it was the third time I’d been with Rob fishing and the first time I’d watched him teaching the boys how to fish. Lots of firsts!
Rob slipped the boat into the water at about four o’clock as I zipped the boys into their PFDs. We set out from the dirt boat launch dock about five minutes later and headed out on the water. The newly fixed Mercury Motor sounded quiet and happy for the first time since we bought it, and the trip out to Ranger’s Cove was smooth sailing! Our eldest smiled and called for more speed as we bumped over the small waves. It was a bit windy, but not enough to cause too much chop.
Once we got to the cove Rob dropped the anchor and set about tying the lines with bobbers and hooking the baby night crawlers we had picked up at Lebanon Bait and Sport. The little guy took to reeling in the lines pretty quickly and was content to help Daddy cast and then slowly turn the reel, watching his bobber drift toward the boat. Our eldest had short patience and was soon asking to head back to the dock. It turned out that he has pretty good instincts; as we headed back we found that the winds were really picking up and had quite the bumpy ride all the way back to the docks. As we drove out of the parking area and started the drive home we saw the beacons flashing across the water calling for all boaters to head to shore.
Not a single bite on our lines, but we’ll be heading out for more fishing adventures soon. Maybe I’ll even learn to fish one of these days…I’ll keep you all posted.
