Gone Goldfishin'

Two weekends ago, I ventured out into the Tennessee country with my boss and 25 K-5th grade boys (plus 3 girls) to go fishing.  The fishing trip was an "incentive trip" for the kids.  Throughout the week, during the after school program, the children are able to earn points for good behavior; individual points can be spent at the "store" every Thursday and group points (there are 8 different colored groups in which the kids travel for each rotation during the day) are put towards an incentive trip   This month's incentive trip for the boys was fishing trip hosted by Great Outdoor University.

We left early Saturday morning, the kids on the school bus while I followed in my car, to head to a privately owned, stocked fishing lake.  Well, once we had traveled about 10 miles I was in completely unfamiliar territory for me, and with a simple (and incomplete) set of directions in hand I was counting on following the big yellow bus pretty closely.  A few red lights later the school bus was no where to be found, and so I relied on my directions which got me to the country road on which the property laid, but then the directions just ended.  My boss called me, shortly after I realized I was not going to figure this out just with my excellent sense of direction and brilliant intuition however, there was no service so the phone call was very fuzzy --the joys of being out in the woods.  I heard enough to know I was looking for a gravel road on my right with a small, barely readable sign that said...something? After two more laps of the road (and no luck) I called my boss back.  Somehow, this time the cell service was excellent and the phone call was clear as day; I was looking for a sign on my right that said "TPC," which I had seen but it had been on my left.  I drove back to the sign and decided to turn left anyways, only later did I realize that the bus had entered the road from one side while I had entered from the opposite side so all the direction I was receiving was the opposite of what I was seeing-very confusing!  Eventually I found it and the day began!

The kids were divided into 3 groups and moved from station to station learning how to bait a hook, cast the line, and then remove and release a caught fish.  Once the stations were finished, and the kids were beyond anxious to get started catching fish, we passed out the poles and headed down to the lake...and the chaos ensued.  First of all, the thin fishing line is easily tangled and with the carelessness and patience of a typical child these lines were tangled in only a few minutes! Then there was the bait, we were using nightcrawlers and were expected to rip the worms into pieces before putting them on the hook.  Well, this was just too much for about 90% of the kids, and so it was left to the adults to rip the worms and bait the hooks.  Let me tell you, ripping a worm in half was a horrible feeling.  It's cruelty to animals, for sure.  I constantly had to look away and pretend I didn't feel it squirming and then tearing, and then squirming even more.  It was killing me a little bit on the inside, but I wasn't going to let anyone see it.  I survived, but I don't think it got any easier.  Another problem with K-5th graders and fishing is the sharp hook on the end of a very unpredictable line swinging back and forth, side to side.  I think it is a miracle that we all survived the day with no injuries.  I nearly missed getting a hook to the face numerous times because the idea of waiting until someone moves or backs away is just absurd.  Lastly, fishing (or at least actually catching a fish) is a serious waiting game.  It involved, patience, sitting still, and waiting, all of which are not characteristics of any K-5th grader that I have ever met.  The routine of the day was: untangle line, bait hook, cast line, wait approximately 10 seconds, then reel line in, and repeat.  Needless to say, no child caught a fish.  However, many of the kids were entertained with catching salamanders or the mere act of casting and reeling.

Overall, the kids all had a lot of fun!  It was complete madness, but it was great to get the kids out of the city, away from their neighborhood, and show them the beauty of nature.