Our oldest boy, Jayce, turns 8 today so Happy Birthday wishes to an entertaining and thoughtful outdoor buddy.  To celebrate the day in an outdoor way, here’s a collection of images and a favorite story about one of my main men.

Bassmaster Tourney at 15 days old                                     Drooling over bluegill

  Papa’s little trapper                                                     Releasing Uncle Donnie’s catch 

Two bluegill make for one big grin

Some great pics, great memories and looking forward to more.  However, gonna be tough to top the following fish story that we shared last spring.  But that certainly doesn’t mean we’ll stop trying.

Last June during a family camping trip Jayce and I were chasing panfish on a Little John Conservation Club lake with decent success by casting to the boils of a bluegill school we periodically observed rippling the surface.  I’d row over within casting distance and “Bang!” we were reeling ‘em in until the school dipped below the surface only to reappear elsewhere on the lake and the chase was on to row over and repeat the process.

We were having a ball as Jayce was plucking them from “the herd” as he described it when surprisingly a fish of a different color went airborne shortly after the bobber went under and another catch, this time a bass, had pretty much hooked itself.

Now all fish are cool when you fool ‘em and I try to heap on the praise with each one the kids reel in to congratulate them on a job well done and to help feed the sense of accomplishment.  But when it’s your boy’s first bass, well that’s cause for a little extra celebration in my book, especially for a sensitive young fellow who needs a bit more of a confidence boost than his siblings.  We had a time and, of course, took a couple pics to show Mama upon our return and eventually Papa the next time we saw him.

Back at the campsite I encouraged Jayce to tell his Mama about our day, letting him do the honors on his “special” catch.  As he related the tale, he said that he was so happy when he landed the bass that he “almost cried.”

Me too as I type up this post nearly a year later.

Happy Birthday, love you buddy and look forward to some more time in the boat (especially once you get the hang of rowing).  Talk to you later.  Dad