This year turned out to be a little different then most, I was sorting thru the rod lockers and came across one of my perch rods, the condition of the rod gave me pause for thought ! The buckshot rattle spoon that was brand new at the start of the season looked a lot worse for wear. Most of the paint job had been chewed up and the Red Gamagatzu hook was reduced to a few flakes left around the eye. The leader had been frayed beyond any use and the rest of the line on the reel had been turned into a useless birds nest of twisted tangles and drooping loops ! I picked up the rod and wondered just how this amount of equipment abuse could have possibly happened ?
A smile came to my face as the memory of a certain day this past season came to mind. I had been lucky enough to be reunited with two old buddys on the ice back in March. As we caught up with what had been happening in our lives, I noticed that my buddys 3 year old daughter would smile and laugh when ever I hooked and reeled in one of the perch from the school I had located in a rockpile on the bottom underneath us.
With a little encouragement and a quick lesson on setting the hook and reeling in the fish, she was hooked up ! It was certainly open for debate on who exactly was having the most fun, the giggling little girl with the 100 watt smile or the 3 overly excited grown ups who Hooted and Hollared every time her rod tip bent and another Perch hit the ice ! That young lady managed to ice 15 decent Perch and released several more the before she finally fell asleep in her dads arms many hours later !
As I finished packing away the rest of the gear, I couldn't help chuckling to myself as I remembered back on that days chicannery and foolishlessness ! I brought the perch rod down to the man cave and sometime this summer I will replace the line, tie on another leader and replace the torn up spoon with a new one. I did learn one simple truth today, I will more then Gladly sacrifice all the icefishing gear that I own if it will introduce another child into this Great sport that we all love so much !
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