Hook, Line, and Sinker

This clip is very special to me. A few weeks ago, my parents went camping at Moccasin Creek State Park. The park has an awesome lake and a creek running by the campground that they stock daily with trout. There is a special section of the creek, right where they stock it, that can only be fished by kids under 11 or people 65 and up.

I have two older brothers and a dad who loves to fish. Every year, when my family would vacation in the mountains, we would all go trout fishing. We would go to the river and hike a few miles to get to the hard-to-reach, secluded fishing holes. Very quickly, I learned that if I was going with "the men" I had to bait my own hook, catch my own fish, and clean them. When my younger sister became old enough, she joined us as well. We would spend hours on the river and usually come home completely exhausted. I enjoyed fishing when I was younger, but now I absolutely LOVE going.

The time that I have gotten to spend with my dad and my siblings out on the river has meant so much to me. Now, John joins us as well. Unfortunately, due to various obligations, it is a rare event now when all of us are out on the river together. Still, I try to make sure that I go several times a year (that's all...it's hard with little ones).

Anyway, I really want to pass the fishing tradition on to my kids. So, we went to Wal-Mart and bought Gracie a purple and pink princess fishing rod and headed up to Moccassin Creek. In my opinion, there is no better trout fisherman than my dad. I decided that if I wanted Gracie to catch a fish, getting his help would be our best bet.

We went down to the creek and after about 2 minutes with the help of Granddaddy, Gracie had a bite. She started reeling it in and did pretty good until she saw the fish flapping in the water. Gracie got so interested in watching the fish that she completely forgot about reeling! We are lucky the fish didn't get away. I was so incredibly proud, and so was Gracie. She ended up catching 3 before we called it quits, and she walked around the campground showing everyone her "fish-ys". John ended up cleaning them, and they are now in the freezer waiting to become part of the next family fish fry. I hope Gracie will enjoy fishing as much as I do...maybe she'll be "hooked" for life. :-)