I have some great memories of being a kid, most of the time it was great.

Today I was sitting here in my office looking out into my backyard and just letting my mind wander when an old memory popped into my head. It was about the first pike I ever caught without a fishing rod of some sort.

I came home from school one day hauling a pike that was all of 3 feet long. Mom’s first question was where the heck did you find that. Thinking I had picked it up off the road.

My dad knew exactly where it came from and it was one of the few times I remember doing something that made him laugh instead of angry.

My walk home from school was just over a mile and a half and we had to walk it rain or shine but that’s the way it was in the country so we didn’t know any different. It wasn’t up hill both ways like my dad’s walk was.

The walk home did have two big hills, one close to the school and the other about a mile from the first hill. It was great when we had our bikes as we could build up so much speed going down one hill we could almost make it up the other hill just by coasting.

When it was spring we would take our time and play in the water that ran deep in the ditches. The ditches were about 3 feet deep to help channel all the water from the brook the ran under the road during the spring.

It was pretty cool. In the summer the ditches were completely dried and the brook was just a little mud hole with lots of frogs. The spring was another story.

It was a dangerous time in the early spring when the snow and ice were still around. I remember rescuing my little brother one year when he stepped on the ice and went right up to his waist in ice cold water. We got an ass kicking for that one even though I saved him.

Once the ice and snow was gone it was just deep clear water.

There were only a few of us that walked home. Other kids would have their parents drive them home but our parents would not allow us to take rides.

So the few of us that had to walk would have fun making boats to float in the ditches. We would have little races with our poorly designed boats but we were kids and it was fun.

Pleasantly Plucking Pike

One year I was walking home with Joyce, who lived on the farm just up the road from us. We usally walked with my little brother but this day he wasn’t there. Johnny was sick a lot so he was probably home sick, again.

Not sure how old  I was but Joyce, who lived about a quarter mile closer to the school that I did, and I were kicking stones to see how far we could kick them before they hit the water. Oh yeah, all the roads were gravel back then, except the road that ran through our little town.

I always won, but was never sure if she just let me win, if you know what I mean.

One fine sunny day Joyce and I were walking past the bridge when I spotted two pike in the ditch. One was about 2 feet long and skinny but the other was well over 3 feet long and looked huge.

Being a boy I had to try and catch one of them.

I remembered seeing my older foster brother Chuck use a shotgun to impact the water. The pike would float to the suface and he would just grab them with his hands. They never even had any holes in them from the shotgun.

I decided to try something similar but of course didn’t have a gun. After all I was on my way home from school.

I went to the other side of the road so as not to spook the pike and found the biggest rock I could find. Well the biggest one I could lift over my head.

I came back to the side where the pike were but now could only see the big pike. Joyce, being a girl was telling me I shouldn’t do it but I didn’t listen and slammed the rock as hard as I could on to the water. I almost went right in with it.

The splash was huge and we got soaked but the pike came to the surface just like when Chuck used his shotgun and I had myself a pike to take home. Proud as ever I walked the rest of the way home glowing I am sure.

I remember changing grips and going from one hand to the other all the way home. It was a bit to long so I had to hold my arms up all the way home so I wouldn’t get gravel and dirt all over it.

Dad took the fish and showed me how to clean it and scale it.

That pike became part of my supper that night and I am sure I smiled through the entire meal.