Tittle Tales

First catch of the season…first crappie catch of his life!
My husband, Matt and oldest son, Cole have been fishing almost everyday since crappie season has “officially” started. They have a jon boat they use and now are proud owners of jigs poles and literally hundreds of artificial jigs. They started last season learning about crappie, studying their feeding habits, when they submerge into deeper waters, when they are spawning and in shallow water and the list goes on.
So this year they were ready to do some serious crappie fishing. They put all that resourceful information to the test by dropping their lines into the waters of Enid. These past few weeks they have been testing out certain spots in Billy’s Creek. I think that may be one of their many favorite spots they have found so far. At least it is after this past Saturday night after the “BIG” catch.
 Saturday afternoon, Matt and Cole went out fishing while I took my other two bundles of joy to visit our horses. Several hours later I arrived home and started preparing for supper, I heard my husband’s truck back the boat into the driveway, so, Shelby and Levi and I ran out to see if they had brought any prizes home with them. When I saw Cole and the big ole smile across his face, I knew he had snagged something big.
I was right! He pulled a huge crappie from his cooler and proudly posed for pictures for me to send to family and friends. He decided to clean and filet it that night but to cook it the following night. The following night as my husband fried up some crappie from the freezer given to us by a friend from last year, Cole happily prepared his in batter and fried his up all by himself. He caught it and cooked it, now there’s a life lesson for ya! HA!
Cole descriptively retold his fishing story from start to finish over our deliciously fried crappie and hushpuppies that evening. He said after no luck in the boat, he decided to dock and get out and fish off the bank. Where he walked and threw his first line happened to be a bed where one was spawning. As soon as he threw it in the fish hit it immediately and he yanked and reeled it in.
I’m hoping for many more fishing trips with several prize crappies in the live well. This kind of fish has become one of my family’s favorite meals now! Cole is learning so much about fishing for Crappie and Lake Enid and all the backwaters and most importantly it is keeping this 12 year-old boy busy and very happy, especially when he catches and brings one home to fry up!