At 4:20 am I sat up to see how Lake Winnipesaukee looked for my morning fishing with my nieces. I’m glad I was awaken by the first singing bird. It was a strikingly beautiful dawn. Without hesitation I woke up the girls who were sleeping next to me on the camps porch here in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
From what I hear, normally teenage girls don’t jump from bed at any time let alone 4:20 am. But my nieces do. That’s because I was taking them to Back Bay. And it’s a good thing they jumped because this sunrise spectacle ended less than five minutes later.
Sierra was with me again but also her best cousin, 14 year old Montana, who belongs to my brother. These two girls love fishing. Love turtles. And also love bullfrogs. We heard a bullfrog and it was requested to find him.
After we found him I gave the girls instructions on how grab a bullfrog and catch him. They were indeed puzzled and unsure, undoubtedly thinking this was an Uncle Jeff joke. But Sierra rolled up her sleeves and said ok. If you’ve caught frogs before than you know it takes practice. Not for Sierra. She nailed one on her first try ever!
Today’s target fish were bluegill and pumpkinseeds. One thing the girls do request are pretty fish and we all know the smaller sunfish qualify. These colorful fish are also hypnotizing to watch eat a Chernobyl Ant – especially if you’re Uncle Jeff!
The young ladies slayed a mix bag of both sunfish species. After catching the two pumpkinseeds in the previous photo, I couldn’t resist setting up this photo. I recon these girls will be nothing but double trouble!
We caught one other fun critter. Early in the morning I snuck up on what I expected to be a musk turtle. I thought I saw a protruding head the correct size. It turns out I saw the entire turtle – a quarter size snapping turtle. I grabbed him and we had our turtle for the day. I caught one this size when I was about 8 years old and had him as a pet for 24 years!
After we released the micro snapper we rapped things up fishing wise. We’d made big plans to stop in the famous Yum Yum Shop for the even more famous frosted gingerbread men. They were closed! The girls settled for cookies and drinks from the coffee shop.
It’s all about the adventure and I shared one that I suspect the girls will always remember. They helped me paddle back to camp and though dying to get back for swimming they patiently let me hit one of my smallmouth haunts along the way. I picked up a small one but a perfect specimen nonetheless.
I’m afraid the weather is supposed to turn on us again starting late tonight. Stay tuned. . . .