The Bassassins

Two weeks ago our baby-sitter took the night off, so, instead of going out on date night, I took Zoe fishing at our favorite nearby canoe haunt. The fishing was fair, it will pick up a bit more as the nights get cooler and some of the weeds die back a little.

Zoe caught this tiny minnow, but she was happy with it. She was really starting to get the hang of casting, and was able to unhook the tiny pickerel without loosing a finger. That is no small feat, because these bad boys are related to the deadly fresh water sharks of Borneo, and they have the razor sharp teeth to prove it.


Poor little thing, its not even as long as her arm.


Here it is, lunging at her throat, trying to rip out her jugular.


A few minutes later, I had to show her how it was done. Check this bad boy out! No, that's not a whale, that's a delicious bass. I didn't have my scales, but the bass did. Anyway, I figure probably he weighed 13 or 13 1/2 lbs. Probably a Maine State record, but I threw him back anyway.

Today, after two weeks spent on and around multi-million dollar yachts, I thought I should get back to my roots, so I woke up Kate and Zach for another trip in search of the lunkers. The morning was clear and bright, the seas calm. Just check out the reflection off this water:

I hooked another record delicious bass, but I let Kate reel it in.

A little later I hooked another Leviathan, and not knowing if the beast would be bigger than him or not, I passed the pole to Zach, with a stern admonition that if the great fish were to pull the fishing rod out of the boat, Zach should still hang on. I knew that if he could do that, the mighty fish would exhaust himself trying to keep Zach's life jacket under water, and that eventually they would both rise to the surface, where I could hopefully harpoon our prey like the mythical White Whale of Captain Ahab's fevered dreams.

In the event, none of that proved necessary, and Zach was able to land his quarry with no serious mishaps. All in all, a fine day on the river.

Here is Kate, trying to pet the fish.