Fishing

Back in September, when we were in Presque Isle for the moose hunt, Ava spotted a Dora fishing pole in the trading post where we tagged the moose. She looked at it, then looked at me, then looked down at the floor -- "We're probably not here to buy a fishing pole, are we?" And I had to tell her, "No, Ava, we're not here to buy a fishing pole today..." She was disappointed, but accepted it. But then, when the moose hunt was over, and the guys had paid for our guide service - they gave Ava and me a tip! So back we went to the trading post, and Ava walked out with a brand new fishing pole, that she had paid for herself!

She got her first chance to use it this weekend, on Cobbosee Lake. Gaffer took her to the bait shop the day before, and she picked out a fluorescent green lure for her own fishing pole. The day was beautiful, sunny and warm, and she and Gaffer had a great time casting. Ava's technique is to get the lure in the water, and then let it sink until she can't see it anymore, and then wait. We're not exactly sure what she's waiting for, but this is a serious part of her fishing technique. At some point, she decides to reel the lure in, and often will say with excitement, "It feels heavy!!" One time when it felt heavy, something was actually on the line - a perfectly shaped brown beech leaf. She was just as happy as if she had caught a fish! We had to save the leaf, and it came home with us in her backpack.




Gaffer got a big bass on his line, and got it close to the boat, almost close enough that I could scoop it up with the net, but then it let go of the hook and swam off. That was the only fish we saw all day, but seeing fish wasn't really the point. We just wanted Ava to have fun, and she did! We found a little island that had a cupboard with maps of the hiking trails on the island, and Ava led the way. The trails were also marked by white paint on occasional trees, and we got a kick out of Ava saying over and over, "... According to this map, we're going the right way!"


The next day, we took the boat out onto Merrymeeting Bay, where Ava was excited at the thought of seeing seals and dolphins, but Gaffer let her know that we'd have to go out a little farther in order to see those things. She tossed out her line a few times, for the fun of it. She's always hopeful that she'll catch something, which I guess is how every fisherman feels!