Sunfishing on Little Pennesseewassee

Mia's favorite place to be....near a body of water!

Mia and I headed out to visit Grammy and Grampy after school. Since Mia has started her new school, her visit time with Grammy, who had graciously taken care of her as an infant, and later before and after school for a total of SIX years, has been limited. I still want this bond to be strong, so I’ll make the trip every time we get the chance!

After we got done visiting, we headed out to find a place to fish. Since we were close to our old neck of the woods, I headed to a place that I was sure would produce at least a few sunfish. But first, we had to stop at the store and get a pack of worms. And, as Mia would have it, a pack of Swedish Fish as well! Mia waited patiently in line as we waited to pay, and was rewarded with her favorite candy when we got back into the car. And then……we were off!

A few more moments down the road, we arrived at Little Pennesseewassee. There’s a little spot on the side of the road with a picnic table, and clear access to the water. An area big enough to allow Mia ample exploring room when she got bored with fishing, well away from the dangers of passing traffic. 

We hopped out of the car, I grabbed the fishing pole, worms and tackle bag as Mia headed for the water excitedly, as she always does! I followed suit, and set up the pole with some weights, a hook, and of course, a worm. I beckoned for Mia to come cast, and she came right over and happily took the fishing pole into her hand. I went through the motions of flipping the bail, casting, and flipping the bail back again. Mia watched as the heavy night crawler and weighted line plopped into the water.

Looking out at the reflections on the water!

It wasn’t much of a wait before we reeled in a big, heavy red breasted sunfish. I showed it to Mia, and she giggled at it. She watched intently as I released the fish from the hook and tossed it back into the water. I put another worm on the hook, which also had Mia’s attention, and then we cast out again.

We were here for about an hour, catching sunfish after sunfish. Mia found great fun in the whole ordeal. I lost count after ten. But one catch surprised me. Well, not so much what we caught, but more so what Mia’s reaction to it was.

I pulled the fish out of the water, and brought it in close to Mia so that she could take a look at it. What she did next was completely unexpected. Mia reached out and touched the fish!!! I was glad to have snapped the shot of her reaching for it!

After she got her hand on it, she looked up and me and let out a very loud and happy screech, with the biggest and proudest smile! I was too excited (and so shocked) to even think about hitting the shutter button on the camera again! I actually think I was screeching with her! Okay, okay, I know I was happily screeching with her! She stepped out of the

Now that Mia has turned into a “hands on” fisherwoman, we can move on to the next task…….baiting the hook!

Reaching out to touch the fish!!