The Gift

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."  (origin highly contested)

     Beaver Lake (aka Pond Biggie) may only be a man-made catch basin, but it is teaming with life.  There are scores of turtles and one of those, a snapping turtle, looks to have the circumference of a snow saucer.  The surface of the water is alive with several species of water fowl and its shallows provide many a meal for the Belted Kingfish and the Great Blue Heron.  

     Below the ripples live a variety of fish and although I had been told there were some big ones in there, I had yet to see the proof.  The other day while scanning the lake, I noticed on the far side, the water looked like it was boiling.  Grabbing my trusty binoculars, another treasure from home, I zeroed in on what was causing this disturbance.  What I'd been told was true.  There, before my eyes, was a school of some ma-honkin' grass carp, the size of which I had not seen for a long time.  They all seemed to be at least two feet in length.  Having not fished in quite awhile, I was thinking I sure wished I had a fishing pole.  

     Wanting a closer look, with binoculars in tow, I headed out the door.  On my way to the far side of the lake, I came across Juan and Pablo, our new friends and co-workers with my husband.  Since it was about quitting time, Juan came with me to get a closer look at the fish.  He was as excited as I was and before too long, one of the supervisors had joined us and we all talked about how much fun it would be to catch one of those 'bad boys'.

     About thirty minutes after I had arrived back at the apartment, there was a knock on the door.  My husband went to answer and when I turned around, in walked Juan and Pablo with brand new fishing poles!  The supervisor, after hearing the banter about fishing, had gone to the nearest big box store and purchased the equipment for them.  Juan is 33 years old and Pablo is 27, but they looked like a couple of  10 year old boys with their new gifts. What was even better, they did not have a clue how to use them!

     We sat on the patio and both watched as I laced the line up through the eyelets on the pole, tied a swivel clip on the end, added some weight and attached a hook.  Then we were off to the pond.

     Juan speaks English, something he taught himself, but Pablo does not. The only way they knew how to fish was with a gig.  It began to look like a game of charades as I demonstrated how to hold the button down on the reel, lean back, cast and release the button on the follow through.  I explained to Juan that the way I liked to fish was after the cast, set the pole down, take the slack out of the line and wait for the bite.  I also told him I had yet to see a member of the human male species, regardless of age, be able to do this for more than 60 seconds.  Juan translated for Pablo and when they were satisfied with this new information, each took a pole and a place on the bank.

     I do not think I have laughed so hard as I did watching two grown men trying to cast a rod and reel for the first time.  Their first attempts were met with the baited hook slamming into the ground a few feet in front of them.  The next few actually got in the water, about a foot from the bank.  Between their own fits of laughter, they finally began to get the feel for it and the casts were going further and further out.  

     Then it started.......cast out....reel in.....move down the bank.... and repeat....it must just be a "guy thing".  

     Did they catch one of the monster carp?  No.  Pablo caught a sunfish, that measured a whopping 1 1/2 inches long and Juan caught a pillow, but the gift of  fishing poles sure made for a splendid afternoon.