My son and I spent time at the local casting pond recently. I strung up a couple of rods while Sam inspected the pond. As he began casting into the pond, Sam informed me that he wanted to catch a fish. I explained that the pond was built for casting and it did not hold any fish to catch. Sam accepted this and turned his attention to casting at the “blue flies” flittering across the water. The damsels didn’t seem to notice the assault as they continued to hunt along the bank. A child’s attention span being what it is, Sam soon turned from casting at the flies to poking at them with the tip of his rod. I can thank Mr. Loomis for the bombproof nature of his GL3 series rod.

    A short time later the osprey in a nearby tree began scrutinizing the area by the end of my fly line. Sam and I watched as the osprey plunged in to the two-foot deep pond. After a brief struggle the raptor emerged with a 10-12 inch fish. The osprey repositioned the fish in its talons as it slowly returned to the perch above us. Sam exclaimed “WOW, BIG THISH!” as only he can. I just stood there, stunned. Our feathered friend left me with a dilemma. Sam, now convinced that I was mistaken about the conditions in the pond, reiterated his desire to catch a fish. How do you explain the improbability of there being, let alone catching, another fish in an un-stocked reflecting pond to a three year old? I pondered this in a slight panic and then I had it.

Hey Sam, lets get some ice cream.

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