Sunday, November 23, 2008

Bubby and the Bass

© By Albert A Rasch

As I mentioned yesterday, Bubby was taking Mom and I to one of his fishing holes. I swear that kid would fish in a drainage ditch if he thought it held fish. He has managed, in the month that we have been here, to find every puddle, pond, lake, creek, stream or river within biking distance of the apartments. The majority of them are within yards of the front door, and none so far that you can’t walk to them in twenty or so minutes.

We were kind of busy yesterday so we postponed our trip until today. I woke up his slumbering highness at the reasonable hour of 10:00 AM and reminded him that he promised to take us fishing. Fortunately he is easy to get up if it’s something he wants to do. While he got ready I went and gathered up a little bit of gear: fishing rods, the net, and water bottles. I left the tackle up to him, as he knew what the fish liked to eat.

Its funny how you don’t notice things if you’re occupied or aren’t looking for them. I must have passed this lake a hundred times and never realized it was there. I mean it might measure 400-500 yards in length and a hundred at its widest point, so you can see how easy it is to miss.

Many of the lakes and ponds are required in these planned communities. The lakes act as retention areas for the water that cascades off all the concrete and asphalt. The positive aspect of this is that it creates habitat for fish, wading birds, and gators. One of the problems though is that they become repositories for pesticides, fertilizers, and pollutants that drain into these areas with the run off. Well designed lakes and ponds have littoral shelves that acts as a nursery for beneficial bacterium, plants, invertebrates, and small animals that help to breakdown many of these toxic compounds.

Anyway, this lake butts up to the first hole of the last nine of the local golf course. My guess is that it is pretty toxic as far as water quality, but none the less there is plenty of life in and around it on first examination. A cormorant was drying out on one bank, while a heron poked around in the shallows. There where plenty of fresh water clam shells on the shore that the raccoons had dug up and eaten. Maybe the water quality isn't all that bad if there are mollusks in sufficient quantities to feed the local coons.

Bubby set Mom up with a silver bodied blue back RattleTrap, while he used his secret weapon bream pattern RattleTrap. I stuck with my personal favorite the Zara Spook. Bubby showed Mom where to throw, what retrieve rate to use, and other little known tricks of the trade, while I was relagated to staying "over there" where my cigar sized top water lure wouldn't disturb the fish.Before I had made my third cast Bubby hollered, "Fish on!" He's been watching a lot of fishing shows now that we have cable and some black box that gives us something called "On Demand."I put my rod down to get a better look at what was going on.
This was the first of several bass that he pulled in while Mom and I flailed helplessly with our rigs. Well, we really just love going out with him. And after casting about a few times we usually put our gear down and just enjoy watching him and listening to his conversations.

All in all, another great day spent fishing. Bubby wants to learn about plastic worm fishing and flyfishing. I know very little about the former, and somewhat more about the latter. Two more talents that he will be happy to pick up!

On my part, I have to get my new garage organized and ready for work. Bubby needs that pirogue and I sure would like to get it finished by Christmas. It would make the perfect gift for him, as well as a very practicle watercraft for these ponds and lakes. I have to design some kind of wheel and bracket assembly for it, along with a bike hitch so he can still pedal to all his fishing spots. That's another nice thing about this area, they have large bike paths and trails. I'll make sure I chronicle the construction process, it should be very interesting.


Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't it great spending time with your family outdoors? My wife and I took our 15 month old daughter for a hike before lunch today and she was spotting deer for us from her backpack perch. Great blog, and thanks for you comments on mine!

P.S. What type of rifle are you carrying in your pic?

Albert A Rasch said...

Norseman,

I do very much enjoy being with the boys. Bubby is really getting to be quite the fisherman, and is giving me advice on tackle choices.

That's "M'bogo" my Ruger #1 in 458 WinMag. I bought it years ago to take with me to Africa on my dream hunt for Cape Buffalo. I used to be able to cycle full throttle loads through it faster than I could move 30-06 rounds in my Weatherby bolt action. That's when I thought the trip was right around the corner so to speak!

Regards,
Albert A Rasch

Anonymous said...

I've always wanted to do a Cape hunt with a double rifle.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a nice day fishing. I also find it funny and rather sweet that you stop and watch Bubby fish after a while. My Dad, who loves fishing, does the same thing with me and I'm going to be 40 in a few months. He says he just likes to watch me enjoy myself.

Anonymous said...

Ranger Rasch,
Sounds like you and the family had a nice outing this Sunday past. Nice pics. Your new AO looks very nice and well kept. I was interested in the critters you've spotted on your new grounds. Do the Property Grounds Keepers pretty much leave these little guys alone or are they forcibly removed from their habitats? Nice to see you back on-line and I look forward to more colorful commentarys on The Rasch Outdoors Chronicles!

GoGo SPQR

Albert A Rasch said...

GoGo,

The only thing forcibly removed from my AO is ill-mannered louts, hooligans, and never-do-wells, along with the occasional hormone imbalanced teenager.

The wildlife is a very useful addition to keep population growth in check. As you might imagine, frequent feeding of the reptilian population is one of tenets of good suburban wildlife management. I frequently encourage people to walk their dogs, cats, and smaller children by the lakes with the dual purpose of both enjoying the scenery, and feeding the gators. It really adds to the fun and merriment!

Nothing like wide eyed and terrified city parents running by you at full throttle with kids dangling from their arms, on a Sunday morning no less, to make you breath deeply and...

wonder how we ever made it this far!

Yours,
with tongue firmly planted in cheek,

Albert A Rasch
"Ranger Rasch Rock Kommando WNUB"