Tried My Hand at Fishing

I decided those bait grasshoppers were slow enough to put on a hook and see if I could find out what's in the upper pond.

The good news, is that we have FISH. Not snakes, not turtles, but actual fish. So that's a good thing. The bad news, is that I'm as good a fisherman has ever.

By dangling the grasshoppers on to the lily pads, they appear as any other who had accidentally jumped on to the pond.

My first grasshopper was pulled under, yanked around a bit, and tore off the hook.  But I did at least see some miscellaneous fish parts in the melee.

The second grasshopper was taken a bite at a time. First his head was snatched off and he resurfaced.  Then he was dragged down and I had a pretty good fight on my hands. But when the hook came back up it was empty.

The last grasshopper was still alive, but was also covered with fire ants. I DON'T MESS WITH FIRE ANTS. So I got a hook through her belly and tossed her in.

Live bait is grace because it moves so naturally. But was having trouble getting a bite on her. Finally she got snatched down and hauled 10 feet under the lily pads.  Again though, the hook came back with nothing.

I have never really thought of fish as voracious predators, but after seeing these guys I'm glad we're at the top of the food chain.

I'll keep trying. I want to catch some of these guys and put them in the quarry pond.

I wanted to try worms or slugs, but flip any log or rock here and all you find are fire ants. I'm sure there's some secret I'm missing, but I have time to figure it out.