The Excellent Way-Part 1

Boone never lost his delight in fishing.

He found he enjoyed it more as he grew older. Another thing Boone found delight in was his grandpa’s never-ending enjoyment of fishing. It was fishing that brought Boone to his grandpa and grandma’s house for the weekend. Months earlier Boone had reached the age where he could get his drivers’ license, on this trip he drove to grandpa and grandmas. He brought his sister along to keep him company on the long drive. Because she talked non stop Boone had no problem keeping alert. It helped a lot that his sister actually talked about things he was interested in.

Fishing was the main topic.

She asked Boone what bait was best to catch walleyes. She wanted to know how deep to fish them. She wondered which freshwater fish was the best tasting. Inwardly Boone was surprised at the interest his sister showed in fishing. And he was pleased that she was. He decided she should get a chance to fish with him and grandpa. The drive went quickly. Boone also discovered another thing he kept to himself; he enjoyed being around his sister. He decided he wouldn’t tell her that, however, things were going well.

Happiness came in waves when they drove into grandpa and grandma’s drive. Both quickly came out of the house to greet them. Both were full of questions. The basics like, “how was the drive?” Are you tired?” And the standard, “Are you hungry?” were taken care of quickly.

As they brought their suitcases inside grandma announced, “There are fresh cinnamon rolls on the counter if you’d like one.”

Before answering, Boone thought, “If I’d like one? I’ll take one now!” What came out was, “Yes, grandma, I’ll have one.” Sarah responded differently, but the result was the same. She was having one as soon as she got her suitcase into the extra bedroom she always used in the lower level of grandpa and grandma’s house. Boone didn’t waste any time storing his suitcase in the extra bedroom he used while at grandpa and grandma’s. Both tried going upstairs at the same time. Boone stepped back and let Sarah go first. He smiled at the thanks he heard come from Sarah. While enjoying the first bites of still warm cinnamon roll, grandpa brought up the question Boone had in mind since he came in the door.

“Boone, how soon should we go fishing?” he asked.

Grandma answered for both. “I have spaghetti noodles and sauce on the stove for dinner. Wait until after dinner please?” That settled it. Fishing together for the first time would be after dinner. When they would go was now settled, then grandpa suggested how they should fish. His idea was to use the kayaks and go to Stone Lake. He and Boone had been ice fishing near the end of winter fishing a few months earlier. Boone liked the idea. They would fish Stone Lake after spaghetti.

Boone enjoyed kayak fishing. A kayak sits inches above the water, the one sitting inside gets a personal look at the water. The views are memorable. Catching a large fish in a kayak could mean a free ride as the fish pulls both kayak and the fisherman. Both grandpa and Boone enjoyed fishing without live bait. The challenge was to determine the best lure to put into the water. Besides, live bait from a kayak takes another step and reduces space in the already crowded kayak cockpit.

They worked together.

Grandpa carried the stern ends of the kayaks, Boone the front. They had the kayaks loaded with paddles and life jackets. Neither of them questioned whether they would wear life jackets. They wore them. One at a time, they slid the kayaks into the back of grandpa’s pickup truck. First the red one, Boone’s cousin called it Nautilus. The lime green one they loaded last. Grandpa just called it “Greenie.” Names did not matter with Boone. They were headed for the lake. Soon it would be lines in the water time. They waved at Sarah and Grandma who were watching from the picture window.

Boone spoke the word which came to mind at the time: “Excellent!”

(To be continued…share with your friends.)