So there i was at Grapevine sending out some chicken liver for the catfish when this little kid comes over and starts fishing next to me. We were sitting there talking about whatever, mostly fishing stuff and tv shows about fishing. he was asking me what i was using where i bought it etc. I had my shakespeare catfish rigs and a zebco 888 on an ugly stick. I caught a couple of small catfish and saw that the kid was using some ham and hot dogs on an old reel someone gave him because it was broken. I guess him and his grandpa fixed it up and it seemed to be working pretty good for him. His line had two small splitshots at the bottom and a small hook about 6-8 inches above that. He was asking me what the bells was for that i had on the tip and i explained that when you are away and here the bell start ringing it means something is jacking with your bait. He then asked if he could use a worm and i told him no problem when he was baiting his hook i went and got an extra bell and told him he could use that if he wanted. he put it on the end of his rig after he cast out and in less than 5minutes his bell was ringing and he reeled in a little drum. He was pretty excited and ran and showed his fish to his family members who were at the lake with him. When he came back we put another worm on and i cast out for him. The next thing you know the bell is ringing again and this kids pole is bending and ready to head into the lake. I told him somethings on and he got up and started reeling in. After a couple of reels his fish jumped and the fight was on. He was struggling and asked for my help so i reeled it in closer to shore and when it got closer i handed the pole back and grabbed the line to help him out so he could have the memory and story that he brought it out. It was a largemouth that was fairly good sized and in the slot. He wanted to show his mom and Aunt that were in the swimming area so i helped him carry the fish over and he was getting applause from onlookers at the fish he caught.
After some more fishing and my wife coming over and catching a catfish and a sunfish. Me and this kid just hung out and fished and i donated quite a bit of chicken liver to this one area and the next thing you know my line wanted to haul away from me. Now my fight was on. When i finally brought it in it was a Buffalo. I have seen these caught but have never actually caught one. People from the swimming area were bringing their kids over to see this big fish and a couple of people had their picture taken with it. It was pretty cool. When we started paking up to leave i told my wife i was going to give this kid one of my Catfish rigs. She asked why and i told her the kids story and that i actually had four catfish poles. She agreed and thought it would be cool too. So i packed everything else up had everything reeled in and came back to my fishing spot and the kid asked if I wanted him to reel in my line. I told the kid no, and that that pole and that bell are now his and some day when he is my age i hope he meets a cool kid while fishing and has a chance to return the favor.

thats awesome man the better then any thing ive ever seen here in the forum

Nothing beats a day of catching worth a lifetime of memories for both parties.

You da man SMPotter, I know that boy will always remember you.

Awesome.

Just remember, "give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll spend the whole day drinking beer in the boat."

You done good...

Great job......Help introduce children to the outdoors any chance you get! Great story, thanks for sharing!

Wow, that got me kinda' choked up!

Great story SMPotter! I have no doubt that kid will pass the torch.

SMPOTTER: YOU JUST MADE A BOYS DREAM COME COME TRUE BY SHOWING HIM TRUE SPORTSMANSHIP. HE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT TOO.

GOD BLESS YOU

Thats freakin awesome.

X2

That was truely a very cool thing you did. That was very selfless. You are a good man.

great story there !you will be rewarded down the line doing things like this .

That was a great deed of kindness. You will cheerish what you did for the rest of your life. The young man will always remember they guy that gave him a great gift. Bless you

where u fish at? I'm gonna send my kid over with a ratty rod/reel!!!


jk - Kuddo's to you