Creek Chubs Close to Home

The family took a little walk yesterday evening that ultimately ended up along the creek at my neighbors' house.  As I stood by to make sure that Lincoln didn't tumble head first into the water, I noticed that creek chubs were swimming in and out from under the bottom of a cement retaining wall.  We completed our walk and I suggested to Hayden and Luke that we grab a pole and see if we can catch some of them.  They were pretty excited to give it a try and there was no way that Linc was staying home, so the whole family headed back over.

I dropped the baited hook down next to the opening where I saw the chubs earlier and immediately 3 or 4 of them shot out to grab it.  I hooked one and let Luke hoist it up.  Hayden was next.  We dropped the bait down again when a monster of a creek chub came flying out, shot right past the worm, and smacked the small bobber on the surface.  We eventually hooked that fish and I let Lincoln reel it up, but it dropped off and skidded down the wall.  It suffered a little road rash, but it swam away looking healthy.  We caught a nice half dozen before I started to get the feeling that Michelle was over it and ready to go home.  With no need for bait in the near future, we let all of the fish go.  I figured that now that I know where they are, I can drop a trap in there with a little puppy food and get all I need the night before my next trip.  Nice to know I have easy access to such a valuable bait.

Each night when I put Luke to bed, he likes me to make up a story for him.  When I finished my story last night I said something like, "You'll probably dream about creek chubs tonight, Luke."  He immediately started dry heaving.  I sat up and looked at him and asked, "What are you doing?"  He said, "Dad, you almost made me throw up when you said that I was going to drink creek chubs."  That kid kills me.