How smiles are made...

[Rockfish9]

last night I took a young boy and his dad out for "eeling 101".. they have been bass fishing a few years now and have been fishing real hard.. but "keeper" size bass.. elude them... eel fishing a form of torture... after a lesson in hook snelling and how to place the "rock stunner" on an eel... we headed out to the local grounds... it was a slow night by most standards.. the youngster hooked up quick but dropped the fish... dad hooked up and was the victim of a "sportsmans release" my guess was the leader cut on the gill plate.. too bad it looked like a real nice fish... shortly after I hooked up and handed off the rod to my youngest pupil and he played the fish perfectly... when I netted it and brought it in the boat , the only thing I could think of was the kids opening presents Christmas day.. the fish scaled out @ 22lbs his biggest and first "cow"... I feel it will not be his last... there were other "kibbies" but no more 20lbers came our way... I feel the young lad didn't sleep very much last night!