Gone Fishin', Be Back Later...

Here are a few highlights of our field trip day. We sunk our lures and caught some fish. What a beautiful day it was here in Arkansas for a fishing trip with friends. It was nice to have the private creek all to ourselves and picnic in the warm spring sun. Cold Kool-Aid and Doritos, Sara's wonderful chicken salad, and some fishing poles to share... what more do you need?



I took the picture above while I whistled the theme to the Andy Griffith show on our short walk down to the "big-fish" part of the creek. Funny that we caught bigger fish today in the "small-fish" part of the creek. There was one red-eyed fella who watched us all day in the water and refused to bite. The kids were afraid of him, but managed to get wet and wade in anyway.



We saw some pretty little rainbow-colored fish that actually sat on the bottom of the creek. I guess they are some form of fresh-water goby. What a colorful fish! Anyone want to identify them for me? I haven't had time to do any research. We caught three or four of them. The females were not as bright as this one. I think it is a male.



They had a nice 12 foot deep swimming hole where the creek had been dammed. None were brave enough or good enough swimmers to attempt a dive. Two of the kids actually swam, but ALL of them got wet through-and-through!



At first they were fishing with store-bought lures. Most of the fish weren't going to fall for that. Then my friend's husband broke out the crickets and the fish went crazy. Morgan really enjoyed fishing and has a pink nose from sunburn. She's out cold on my bed right now - taking a nap before dinner. She didn't catch a fish today, but she did fall off of a swing and scrape her back up... poor thing!



The cool breezes today made the trip delightful. I can't get over how mild it is as we near the end of April. The highest the temp got today was probably near 72 or 74 degrees. In the next ten days, it won't get over 83 degrees according to the Weather Channel. That will be nice for our other planned field trips.



We also caught a few crawdaddies, some fresh-water clams (not like it was much sport to catch a helpless clam), and a tiny green creek frog. The frog managed to escape our bucket when we weren't looking, but we set the other captives free before we left.



My son caught his first fish with a little help (my friend's husband cast the line with a cricket on the end). It was a beautiful longeared sunfish! They are the loveliest little critters. He was aflame in the sunlight and took me by surprise when Kaden pulled him up out of the creek. I didn't know such pretty little fish were nestled in the creekbeds of Arkansas. My picture doesn't do him justice. Check out the link for a glimpse at how they reflect light with brilliant oranges and blues.



What a fun fishing trip. I hope we get to go back again in a few weeks. Next time I'll remember the sunscreen and take a jug of tap water and a towel to wash our feet off before we get in the car! The kids were filthy!


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