Cross that Lake off m List

[wicklundrh]

Yesterday I had a feeling the fishing would be good with the impending weather coming. I was originally going to head to Ford lake with my daughter but, after consideration, decided to hit a smaller local lake that I have not fished. Book says there is a boat launch on the south side of the lake that is township owned. We head to the lake and drive around the whole thing. I find the park but no launch. We stop at a convienance store and go inside (my little one has to use the bathroom). I ask the owner where the boat launch was. He was kind of a jerk and said "well, you can't use it, it is a private lake".

Two miles down the road and I start to laugh. My little one asks "whats so funny". I tell her that we forgot to flush the toilet in the bathroom (very nice bathroom). Normally I would feel bad, but this guy was a jerk so It felt good to know that she left a "Bobber" for him. She also got a huge kick out of learning what a "toilet Bobber" was!

On to another lake. It still fit the bill as it was one I have not fished before. This lake is decent size (crooked lake) in washtenaw county. One end is shallow (less than five feet) and the other end has some deep spots to it. The lake was flat except for the massive amount of boat traffic from the dwellers of the lake. They were extremely rude and seemed to venture rather close to fisherman. This lake must not be fished that much.

In all my life, I have never had the amount of blue gills hit minnows as I have last night. I'm not talking big gills either. They were hungry. In the end, we managed only one really nice gill. My daughter did get a kick out of running the trolling motor with key fob. After that, she got to drive around the lake. She loves driving my boat.

As we approached the dock, there was a gentlemen in a row boat. Although we were only going about 6mph, I slowed the boat to no wake. My daughter asked me "why did we slow down". I told her that it was a curtousy to the fisherman. She says "I know what that word means". Then she says "the other people were not curtious to us". I said, "just because other people do something doesn't mean we need to". We as fishermen need to set examples for others to follow. She says "why didn't you get mad when people were running fast next to us". I told her that life is too short for us to get angry at other peoples stupidity. Then I asked if she understood.

Although I won't go back to this lake... it was a great evening as I got to teach a valuable lesson. Our conversation was also loud enough for the gentlemen in the row boat. He had a smile on his face that you could see across the lake!

[mgrand8]

Nice lesson. Your a good father

[crappietale]

Nice lesson. Your a good father

I agree completely. It's refreshing to hear about DADS spending quality time with their kids. It seems like all we hear about and see nowadays are "single moms." It is unspeakably sad that so many men father children and then fail to fulfill their roles as DADS. Kids NEED a mom and a DAD and I know from being a school teacher for 33 years that the source of many problems for a lot of kids is that they have no DAD.
I don't think there is ANYTHING in life more precious than sharing life's experiences with your kids.

[yankee doodler]

. Ataboy dad. Good for you.