The fishing trip has been planned for several weeks and the anticipation is growing harder to handle for the young angler. Several weeks may not seem like a long time to a seasoned angler but to a four-year-old several weeks is an eternity. Every morning the questions start about when the weather and water will warm enough to encourage the fish to become eager to entertain a young boy. A two-hour fishing trip to a farm pond can be an insignificant event to an older angler but for the youngster it is similar to an exotic trip to a far away land.
This particular destination is only a 25-mile drive from home for the young angler but the small pond is filled with pan fish and bass that create nonstop action. The fish are eager to eat anything from live bait to almost any artificial offering. The bass are always willing to explode on small topwater offerings and provide acrobatic displays once hooked. The visual excitement of watching a topwater offering and the bass’ willingness to display themselves in such fashion create an exciting outing for any youngster.
This excitement will not hold the attention of a four year old for long. However, the outing is nowhere close to over once the angler’s interest starts to fade. The area is full of open fields and forestland along with two ponds. Walks through the fields and forest are an adventure in themselves. Short walks through the woods provide the sounds of last fall’s leaves crunching beneath little shoes and one sweeping motion of a tiny foot opens up an opportunity to explore the many insects that call the forest home.
The blooming plants provide many colors to explore and an opportunity to pick some wild flowers to present to Mom upon returning home. Some can be identified when discovered while some samples are taken home for further examination and identification. The wild Violets, Dogwood and Red Bud Trees provide wonderful colors in a wooded area still quite thin in vegetation. Stopping to smell them excites the nose and indicates that Mother Nature is coming back to life.
Finding a fallen tree branch provides the youngster a toy as well as a walking stick while on the forest adventure. The toy reminds me of times when toys were simple and did not create entertainment without some imagination. Rocks, another readily available toy, are an excellent choice for the child to ward off the creatures lurking just over the next hill. Any natural noise heard while on the adventure becomes a potential enemy to be dealt with and the sticks and rocks make great tools for this job at hand.
Leaving the shaded cover of the trees create a transition of interesting animals including horses, cattle and one lonely mule. The livestock are huge animals in the eyes of the youngster who just minutes ago were the world’s best angler at the nearby pond. The first question will be “can we ride them?” The next is “can we pet them? Finding that the huge horses are quite gentle and friendly, and like the attention eases some of the uncertainty during the first moments of their discovery. Once the petting has been done we now have several new friends willing to follow us through the field during the next step in this adventure.
With still some uncertainty about the large animals that have just befriended us, the youngster regularly looks over his shoulder keeping a close watch on the horses. Proud of his newly established friendship and not wanting them to lose interest in following us, he is still wondering about their motive for wanting to follow so closely. He does not yet understand that these animals are just a curious about him as he is of them.
We near the pond again where our fishing gear is leaning against a tree waiting for our return. One more attempt to make the water’s surface erupt with excitement is a success. Another eager bass explodes on the topwater presentation offered by the young boy and he again is the world’s greatest angler. His attention is beginning to fade once again and it is time to gather our belongings and embark on a journey home so he can share the fresh picked flowers and the story of him once again confirming his ability as a great angler.
While this short adventure into the outdoors may seem insignificant for some it is one not forgotten by the boy. It is part of the building process that will create a life-long love of the great outdoors. All of the boy’s senses have been subjected to some sort of stimuli and he has had the opportunity to use his imagination. These sorts of situations do not often occur while inside a building, and if they do, certainly not to this degree.
This first photo shows the items we used for rigging this new product. They include a Gambler KO Hangover Skirt, Gambler Paddle Tail Worm, worm hook, bullet sinker, line threader and two strands of living rubber skirt material.
This second photo shows the rig almost completed. The steps to get to this point included sliding the bullet sinker onto the line, sliding the Gambler KO Hangover Skirt below the sinker and tying the worm hook onto the line. The Paddle Tail worm was then Texas Rigged onto the hook. Once these steps were complete the line threader was inserted into the sinker opening and used to pull the living rubber skirt material through the center of the sinker. The excess skirt material is shown protruding from the sinker and needs to be trimmed off.
This last photo shows the rig completed. With the sinker pegged on top of the skirt and the skirt resting on top of the worm the rig becomes a truly weedless jig. It is ideal for using in heavy weed and brush cover. These skirts are available at Midwest Fishing Tackle. We will be adding the Gambler Goop Weight soon. For a complete line of Gambler Lure Products visit Gambler-Bang.com
