Last week I spent with my family in Wisconsin at a fishing resort.  I asked for advice about lures and such before I left and you gave me some great suggestions....but the best day came simply fishing from the dock with my big sister Carla Jo.

Carla's family was on the dock when I joined them that morning.  She was busy fixing worms to hooks and guiding her grandsons in the art of fishing.  They had the cutest little miniature poles and were so excited about catching fish.  As you may know, fishing can be either very boring or very exciting.  i'd just gotten off the boat where it was relatively boring; I never got a nibble.  But on the dock, Carla had discovered blue gill lurking just below.  She was a great teacher, very patient with the boys who got increasingly excited from pulling in fish after fish.  It was a blast.

I cast my line further out into the lake, though, just because I like to cast.  As soon as the bobber hit the water, it was pulled under for a second.  Carla said, "Look Diane, you've got a bite!"

I got excited and pulled the line too quickly.  She told me to be more patient, but cast again, right to the same spot.  I did and we got the exact same response: my bobber immediately dipped in the water as a fish nibbled at my bait.

"Now reel him in slowly," Carla said.  "They like to play, so tease him a little bit."  I did what she said and reeled my line in just a little bit at a time, and the fish rewarded me by continuing to pull at my bait.  I told her I didn't feel a thing on the line but she insisted I had a fish as she continued her play-by-play instructions, encouraging me as I slowly played the line in to the side of the dock.  I think even the kids were watching this interplay, as it seems the whole dock was watching in breathless anticipation.  I felt like a true sportsman, under Carla's patient direction.

Finally I drew my line all the way to the dock and out of the water.  I had a fish alright, A BASS!!  Well, a baby bass.  Carla said, "Look at that, it's a bass!"  I looked at it in shock: a bass?  By golly, it WAS a bass, a four-inch long baby bass with a mouth just wide enough for me to get my fingers in for the photo op.  We were all laughing so hard I'm surprised someone didn't fall off the dock.

But then if they had, they'd just grab a blue gil and climb right back up. 

(I'm sharing a picture of Carla's husband Tommy and his REAL fish.)