Kid Fishing Day!!!

Today was kid fishing day, the first day of trout fishing in Four Mile Run Creek and a day set aside for the under-15 crowd to fish without competition from more aggressive, if not more competent adults. Alex and I have been excited about this for a couple of weeks now. We got up this morning and while we were getting ready, Alex threw a HUGE bird's nest in his line and somehow managed to unspring the release on his reel. After a few tense minutes I got the reel fixed and cut the Gordian knot in Alex's line (Grandpa Gaskill would surely have managed to untangle it, but I am still a bit of a rookie untangler), and we were off.

The Parks Department planted the fish late last night in a couple of spots along the creek. We got to Four Mile Run Creek a bit late and the mob had already formed in all the planted spots. The ratio of people to visible fish was about 4:1. The fish were good sized rainbows, but appeared to have been well-fed before they were planted and they weren't biting on anything. We did see one fish caught with a net (Alex thought this was a fabulous idea and insists that we bring a net next time - we'll be reading the Virginia State fishing regs. at bed-time to help clarify why this is a no-go).

Ultimately, we were skunked, but we had a great time. Alex did a good job of rigging up on his own and got a feel for how to spot good holes. We are planning to go out early in the morning before work this week to see if we can catch a few.