Kip’s Comments - August 7, 2025
“My Knees Are Still Knocking…” (A Day With Gramps)
Early this morning I picked up one of my grandsons for a day of fishing. Our angling outing began not far from their home where we had many small fish moving around, but none were biting on our crawlers.
While there I received a call about a possible injured hawk in Waverly. With no fish-catching action happening we headed to the location to check out the hawk. The good news is that the hawk appears to be a young bird that is able to move around. I am not entirely convinced it is “in the clear” yet, but time will tell. Even if we wanted to help the bird it was too high in the tree to reach it.
Cooper's Hawk - Image 1009321
Cooper's Hawk - Image 1009433
After shooting pictures of the birds and conversing with the homeowners and law enforcement, my grandson and I then moved to another small pond for more serious fishing. At this pond we knew it was loaded with small bluegills, but we did not care. We were just looking for some catching action and we got it!
My grandson had caught a very small bluegill and was practicing his skills at removing the hook from the fish. Out of concern that he was taking too long for the fish, he dropped the little bluegill into the water to help it stay alive. As the fish was only a few inches in the water a largemouth bass suddenly swam up and gulped his fish down - even breaking the line - with much water splashing. Trust me, my grandson was surprised and everyone in that county may have heard him. Even ten or fifteen minutes later he commented that “…my knees are still knocking…” after that bass came so close to his fingers.
Twenty or so minutes later I too had a very tiny bluegill on my line. After tossing the fish back into the pond a largemouth bass (maybe the same one) quickly swam up and gulped my fish down. Both little fish gulps took no more than a second or two for the largemouth bass to complete. It was amazing and something I had not seen before.
After two episodes of voracious fish eating by a bass I decided to try to catch that bass. I tied on a plastic fish lure with a weedless hook, tossed it out a short distance from shore, and boom, my lure was gone. Water was flying in the air and my grandson was excitedly watching the action. I let him handle my rod and reel as I lifted the bass from the water. What experiences! I am sure he and I won’t forget this morning for a very long time.
Largemouth Bass - Image 1009644
While fishing I noticed many dragonflies and damselflies catching other flying insects. I took breaks from catching little bluegills to photograph the flying warriors.
Blue Dasher Dragonfly - Image 1009138
Bluet Damselfly - Image 1009201
Calico Pennant Dragonfly - Image 1009295
Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly - Image 1009523 (eating a fly)
Halloween Pennant Dragonfly - Image 1009633
My time with my grandson must have been well received. He suggested it would be OK with him if I pulled him out of school for more learning experiences. Think about it - close-up hawk encounters, predator/prey relationship observations with the bass and bluegills, and dragonflies and damselflies. You don’t get those first-hand experiences in the classroom. He might have a good idea. I’ll ask his parents.
