Today was my daughter’s birthday, while digging for pictures I came across some that reminded me of a day we shared. It was last summer, and the more I dwell the more of it comes back to me. It was a beautiful day, the two of us had time to ourselves and she decided we should hit the water. Someone raised this one right???? She asked to bring Brad, my beagador she loves so much, and we headed to a spot on the Flint river to head upstream a bit. It took some pedaling, paddling, and wading to get up to where I knew I could get her on some bronze. On the way up I plucked a couple off while Brad jumped to shore and took a brief stroll while we were wading up. For a dog that is half lab he will not step in water over 6 inches deep unless food is involved, good food. He also makes a good hood ornament for a kayak when its being drug upstream.

Not too long into our trip we get to a “deep” pool that is directly downstream from an island. This is a place that over the years has proved to hold fish on several different structure combinations it provides. This time there were plenty of fish stacked up in the rocks of the pool. They were hungry for some crawdad imitations. We both caught a handful of fish working our way up to the island.
I got us positioned at the bottom of the island where the current gets split up into a bunch of chutes. I sat my rod down and started telling Nadia where to cast. Fish after fish, she was having a great time and I could not help but smile. She makes a cast up onto a shelf the current pushing hard over into a small pool. As soon as the bait fell off the shelf her pole bent over, I knew it was a good fish. She reeled it up and caught a glimpse and yelled it was big. At that same moment, the fish ran, peeling drag. I knew it was big. I jumped out of my yak with my net and made my way to her, just as she worked the fish over to the side of the boat I was on I saw it and she shook herself off the hook. It was honestly one of the biggest Smallies I have seen on the end of a line in that river. Pushing the 20” mark with ease. I felt horrible, I know how few and far between those fish are on the river. I told her to let me net it, if she had just boat flipped it, she may have landed it. Who knows?

But she could see how upset I was and started consoling me. It was heart wrenching for me to see her lose that fish. She was simply happy to be enjoying herself with me. The perspectives between the two of us in that moment were so far apart but so close at the same time. Turned out to be one of the best days the two of us have spent together.