Young fisherman, Lil' Johnny,

makes debut with success

Lil' Johnny was going on his first fishing trip so he had to get up early. If you ever take a young fisherman on his or her first trip, make sure you take the lad or lassie someplace where the action will be good. Even if it is only bluegills and sunfish.

That was all set up because Lil' Johnny was going to be taken to a private pond located in a planned residential community comprised of homes, townhomes, and apartments, with a golf course built in. The word was this was a place that held monster bass. So, Lil' Johnny would find out.

Being the young fisherman, he had already been shown the aquarium where the baitfish were going to come from the night before. We were taking crawfish and baby bluegills from the aquarium and nightcrawlers in the bait bucket stored in the basement behind the wall. Lil' Johnny's grand uncle, Big Daddy G, stopped to get some fathead minnows on the way to the pond. Also on the trip were me and Lil' Johnny's dad, Big Johnny. Bassman Billy was going to join us at the pond.

I always think beginner's luck is especially true when it comes to fishing. And Lil' Johnny showed why. Between the fish he hooked and landed, and the one's he landed off G's rod, the young fisherman brought to shore three catfish and a number of largemouth bass. The catfish were an average of 14-15 inches and the bass in that same range.

The bass were all returned to the water, but we decided to keep the catfish on the stringer because I had an idea Lil' Johnny might want to see how fish go from the water to the dinner plate.

As we were leaving the pond, I picked up a little box turtle and gave it to Lil' Johnny as a pet.

Later that day, Lil' Johnny watched intently as I gutted and cleaned all three catfish. One of the catfish was a momma, fat and laden with eggs. And as I cut open her belly, all the inerds came ballooning out. Lil' Johnny's face lit up and he started laughing. "This is better than a horror movie," he said. He had the biggest grin on his face. His dad later told me that Lil' Johnny wants to be a surgeon.

I showed him how we marinated the catfish fillets in milk for an hour or two, then coated them with cornmeal and fried them in oil. It was Memorial Day, and everyone got together for dinner, which included the catfish. Everyone heard how Lil Johnny had watched how the fish had been cleaned.

Someone asked, "What did you see when the fish was cut open?"

Lil' Johnny: "Guts, and I saw the heart."

When he was last seen getting into dad's car for his long trip back home, Lil' Johnny, the young fisherman, was carrying the pet turtle in a plastic box and the memories of his first fishing trip in his head.


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