Thomas' Big Fish

So here is the first of many fish stories.....and they are not necessarily listed in order. One thing we did this summer (2008) was go fishing (though not nearly enough!). Thomas had a small canoe trip with the Ward Scout Troop. We paddled about 3 miles up the Presumpscot River (from Shaw Park, past Covered Bridge, to the bottom of Dundee dam). It was a great little outing, and a decent simulation of what a bigger canoe trip would entail. We packed our overnight gear, food and fishing stuff, and off we went.

On the way upstream, we stopped a fished this little inlet and an older guy on the shore came over and started talking to us, and telling us what to use, and where to fish. Long story short, he gave us a few "Sluggos" and told us to fish the slow inlets for pikerel. Well, we fished and fished. Thomas had a big pickerl slam the lure and he fought it for a bit, but then it eventually got off. He also hooked two nice bass, but again was unable to land them.

Finally, on the way home the next day, we stopped in the same inlet and fished for a while. I finally said that we needed to get going so told Thomas to take one more cast and BAM, he caught this nice 20" pickerel. I was so happy for him, because he stuck with that Sluggo the whole time, wanting to catch a big fish......and he did it.