Teach a boy to fish ...

Scott Loftis

Alert readers might have noticed a photo of my grandson holding a fish in last week’s paper. I suppose there might have been a little nepotism involved in publishing that photo, but it was a nice photo, it did happen in Berryville and if you can’t do something fun like that every now and then, why do you even own a newspaper?

The story behind the photo is that the fish Liam was holding up was — as far as I know — the first fish he’s ever caught completely on his own. He hasn’t been fishing often, usually when he’s visiting one grandparent or another. The last time I took him to George’s Pond, a couple of summers ago, he insisted on casting his own line, then proceeded to throw his hook into the nearest tree and somehow strip all the line off his brand-new reel. That took all of two minutes.

This time around, I was determined he was going to catch a fish. So I “helped” at the start. We pulled in four bluegill in the first 10 minutes before Liam decided he was an expert and didn’t need my help anymore.

I left him to his own devices and dropped my own hook in the water. It wasn’t too long after that that I heard him yell something to the effect of “I got one!” and I turned to see him holding up a nice-sized bluegill.

He didn’t catch any more fish that night, though he named one bait-stealer “Jimmy” and implored me to please use his pole to catch the little thief. I did as he asked, but Liam made it known that because it was his pole that finally landed Jimmy the pickpocket, the “point” belonged to Liam.

He got another point for briefly holding a fish that I had caught. As soon as that one started wriggling, Liam dropped it on the dock.

Liam, you see, doesn’t “like slimy things.” That’s a hurdle to be overcome for any serious fisherman.

“I should have gotten a picture of you holding that fish!” I said.

“You would have had to take it fast,” Liam replied in a serious tone.

I knew the fish weren’t the only ones being hooked when it started to rain and Liam opted to keep fishing rather than seek shelter in the car.

Later, I asked him: “When you felt the weight of that fish on the other end of your line, that was a pretty cool feeling, huh?”

“Yes, that was cool!” he responded. Not as cool as it was for me.

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Scott Loftis is editor and publisher of the Carroll County News. His email address is SLoftis@Carroll-CoNews.com.