Catfishing

Shane and I woke up and were on the road by 5 AM Sunday morning to go fishing.

5 AM.

Fishing isn't my thing, but Shane loves it. When Molly asked if we wanted to go catfishing with them I jumped at the chance.

I didn't learn until later how early of a day it was going to be. The boat launched east of Richmond onto the James River at 7 AM (The same river that's down the street from us!).

Novel (and social) experiences have been limited this summer, so I never thought of backing out. 

Shane didn't find out until I picked him up from Nana and Pop. I'd hoped a surprise would take the sting out of leaving paradise. 

He was awake on time and didn't sleep a wink on the way there. He was too excited.

Henry and Erik were there before us. Henry ran up to greet us as we parked.

Carrie chose to sleep, but it was a good thing she did. There wasn't much room for anything beyond us and the guide.

'Captain' Matt was our guide. He had the kids put on life vests and we were underway! (They only had to wear them when the boat was under throttle.)

The James was nearly empty except for us and a bunch of birds. We saw heron and there were osprey nests in the markers.

Our first stop was by a small cliff and one such nest/marker combo.

Erik and I sat back. The guide did 98% of the work. He pulled out some shad and cut it up for bait as the kids watched. He handed out poles and the kids did the remaining 2%.

Which was really not much. Shane wanted to hold the pole, but Henry told him the right way was to put the pole in the mount. We had three poles hanging off different corners of the boat.

Then it was hurry up and wait. Most of the skill in fishing seems to be in the preparation and placement. From there you see what opportunities present themselves.

"I am not a sit and wait person," Shane said. "I'm active!"

The bait served as entertainment. Captain Matt had brought some goldfish for live bait. Henry played at first, but Shane bothered the fish the rest of the trip.

The other big source of entertainment was the radar. The boys took turns manning it, but Shane was the most spirited announcer. "I see a blip!" (Every. Single. Time.)

Captain Matt wasn't the most loquacious, but he did a good job of answering the boys' questions.

We got a bite within the first twenty minutes. Henry reeled it in!

Captain Matt offered to let the boys hold the catfish.

Henry said, "Yes!"

Then he said, "Wow, it's slimy!"

Shane was hesitant and opted out.

If we kept catching catfish it would have been glorious, but we hit a 4.5 hour drought. Morale ran low.

The boys squabbled over which pole was whose and even got into a brief wrestling match over it. Henry blamed his dad, because Eric wouldn't bring his sunglasses to Henry. No, Henry had to get up from the pole Shane was originally sitting at and he knew Shane was going to try to reclaim it!

We didn't sit totally idle during that time. Captain Matt baited hook while the boys watched and talked some River Monsters with Henry.

We motored under I295 looking for more active waters.

Shane kept asking to "Go full speed!"

Driving under the highway was a neat perspective shift.

"We drove over that bridge to visit SC last summer," I reminded Shane.

Eagles watched our passage.

A power plant was right off the river.

My first thought: That would be a neat level to run around in (for a video game).

I took more pictures of it on our way back.

We dropped anchor or drifted at several different spots, but the catfish weren't biting. Captain Matt put a live goldfish on a hook to let it swim around and garner interest (it escaped).

The highlight for Shane was probably peeing off the boat. We had him face away from the houses.

Shane really liked the feel of the boat rocking. Whenever another boat's wake buffeted us he was bouncing around and smiling. Sometimes even on the side of the boat (while I wondered if it would be better parenting to pull him down or just let him fall in the water!).

I brought food, but the Bull's food was much, much better. They had chocolate and popcorn. The only thing I did right was to bring some Lipton teas (which Shane snatched up and immediately handed mine to Henry! I went without.).

The Atlantic sturgeon were really cool. Every now and then we'd see a big fish jump out of the water. They weren't merely popping their heads up, either. They were airborne!

The best jump of the trip happened around when Shane and Henry peed off the boat. I wasn't looking, but I heard a splash nearby. I had time to turn, look, and see the sturgeon fully airborne before it splashed down. 

I would have loved a photo, but there was no way to predict when or where a sturgeon would soar. Captain Matt filled us in on what he knew about them and I did some minor phone research looking them up.

We started to see more and more boats as the day went on. There were one-man fishing operations to luxury yachts and a police cruiser. 

The wake boarding looked like how I would have preferred to spend a day on the river. The boarder was able to surf their boat's wake and keep up without holding on to a rope. Fascinating.

I did try water skiing and tubing once as a kid with Bill and Dan's family. That was a great time (and a nasty sunburn).

The sun beat down the whole time. I reapplied sunscreen at least 4 times. I'm not made for that much sun exposure. If this trip had happened at the beginning of the summer before my farmer's tan it could have been deadly. Thankfully, I made it out unscathed.

The whole trip was supposed to take 4 hours, but we stayed on the water for 5.5 hours. 

That's a credit to Captain Matt. He didn't suggest coming in until the boys had a victory to remember the trip by.

I was near my limit when the drought finally ended. Shane got a bite.

Both boys got to catch and hold a fish!

Henry was much more into the work and technical side of things where Shane was fixated on the joy of the catch.

We could have kept the fish, but I didn't bring a cooler. Plus, I don't know how to gut and clean a fish. Carrie does and offered, but unless we're camping I prefer the counter at Wegman's.

Henry had the honor of sending the fish flying back home (though I think this gif is actually the first fish and I don't feel like moving it).

The boys were fired up. It was like the drought never happened. Shane as on the radar while Henry jumped every time a line twitched.

We were getting ready to head in when another catfish struck. A big one! I helped hold the rod while the boys reeled and the captain got the net.

We pulled up a fish that could have swallowed most of Shane's arm.

The boys danced around the boat (and it danced in reply).

Captain Matt brought out the scale.

9 lbs and 12 ounces.

29" long.

It was far from the biggest catfish in the James (Capt Matt has caught a 70 lbs behemoth before!), but it was the biggest fish Shane ever held.

Henry's done some ocean fishing, so he'd probably seen bigger.

But they loved it. My patience barely survived this trip and both boys were already talking about "next time!"

Smile for the cameras!

You too, fish! You're getting to go home.

Everything from the drought was forgiven and the boys piled into Erik's truck. They wanted to ride together to go get lunch.

We drove over to the Wegman's in short pump where the boys go sushi. Very thematic considering our morning!

It was a pricier ($200) and longer (5.5 hours + nearly 4 hours driving!) trip than I want to make too often, but it was an awesome ending note for the summer. Monday, Shane would face a sharp downturn in excitement when I was working full time online and he had no cousins, friends, or fish around to entertain him. 

But for Sunday, he got to ride the wave.