Go fish

AJ has always seemed to live by the motto that anything worth doing is worth doing well. No halfway efforts for him. If he likes something, he pursues it. Full speed ahead.

So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that his latest interest has reached the level of near obsession. He's hooked! All my boy wants to do is fish. And then fish some more. And then when he's done, hey, can we go fishing again?

It seems to have started a week ago Monday. While spending the day with his friend Noah, they went fishing at Chub Lake.

And AJ caught a fish. Having once worked at an Aquarium that celebrates freshwater creatures, I probably should be able to recognize what kind of fish this is - maybe a sunny or a crappie? AJ's no help. He guessed the same thing.

But no matter on the name, especially since it was too small to keep. The fact that it chose to nibble on AJ's hook was more than enough to launch this angling addiction. 

The next day, AJ convinced our neighbor Patty, who was babysitting, to take him fishing in the river behind our house. Again, success. (Though I'm trying not to notice that AJ hadn't bothered to change clothes since the previous day.)

This time it was a small mouth bass, he thinks. "I know it because it looks exactly like one I saw on a poster," AJ insisted. "Plus Patty told me that's what she thinks it is."

He was forced to take a break Wednesday, much to his dismay. But made up for it the next day. No sooner had we returned home from the fourth of July parade, and AJ was asking to return to the river. Jeff went with him, but the fish weren't biting. The 80+ degree temperatures and bright sun might have had something to do with it.

Later in the day, we visited Grandpa Bill and Grandma Jo for dinner. Guess what AJ wanted to do?

Again, no luck. (Unless you count the three boats he managed to snag when he cast his line across several docks.)

Friday, he was invited to spend the weekend with his friend Gino at a cabin on Island Lake. Here's a shocker: AJ wanted to go fishing. They managed to catch a northern pike, which AJ has now decided is his favorite kind of fish to catch. Most likely because it was his biggest fish to date.

He returned home Sunday afternoon, allowing just enough time to - oh hey, why don't we go fishing?

As luck would have it, I don't have a fishing license, which means Jeff gets to be the one supervising while being eaten alive by mosquitoes. AJ hasn't complained yet, probably because he's still happy with the novelty of it all. But I'm waiting for him to notice and question why he always seems to catch fish with other people, but has yet to catch a fish with dad.

Yeah, Dad, why is that? I'm sure Jeff will have a good answer, but until then, who cares? Let's just go fishing.

P.S A big thank you to Sarah, Patty and Michelle for taking and sharing photos, and for enabling my son's fishing habit.