Goose Pit Hash

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Book excerpt

One That Got Away

It was the last weekend in April 2013, and the weather report was predicting a nice Saturday for a change.  We had one of those long, cold springs and winter just kept peeking its head into the forecast almost weekly.  I had spent the week before on Lake Erie and had the best walleye fishing in my life. I had caught a cold the last couple of days and had a miserable 1100-mile trip home.  After two or three days of resting and taking medication, I was finally feeling like getting out again locally and trying to find a walleye.

Deb told me that my son in law Aaron, my daughter Niki and their two kids, Avery and Andrew were coming to our house on Friday night as Niki had arranged for some birthday pictures to be taken of Andrew before his third birthday in May.  I thought this would be a good opportunity for grandpa to take Avery walleye fishing for the first time along with Aaron down to Enders Lake near Imperial, NE.  They were ready to go upon hearing the plan for Saturday and both were up ahead of me that morning getting everything packed for the big adventure.  I even had a special little red and yellow Disney Pixar Car’s fishing pole for her that grandma had found.  Avery had been in the boat before a few times but never on a certified fishing trip, as she was about to undertake.

It was about an hour and a half trip from our house to the lake and we left about 7:30 that morning with coolers packed and her life jacket in hand.  Everything started out fine but by the time we were about halfway to Enders she started changing her mind about fishing and wanted to go back home.  Her dad was patient with her and told her if she didn’t whine we would stop by the lake and get some worms and a candy bar for the boat, which seemed to satisfy her change of mind.  We finally got our bait and candy and then on to the boat ramp and loaded the boat for the fishing trip.

There were three or four boats already working the area when we arrived to start fishing.  She was interested in how we got the worms on the hooks and how to put the poles in the pole holders.  She also wanted to know about the Minn Kota trolling motor, an electric motor in the front of the boat that is used to move the boat slowly or help position it in the wind. That way a person can fish a certain area along the shore and stay in whatever depth of water you desire to fish in.  I ran the electric motor and sat in the front of the boat and Avery and her dad were in the back.  She would grab her pole occasionally and reel it in and then Aaron would have to put it back out but all was going well, except for the fish biting.