Mason's Success & Another Natural Hybrid

Mason, Cody, Waylon, and I fished at Watkins Mill together last night.  I should point out that neither of the boys jump at the chance to hit the water but always have fun once they get there.  Waylon on the other hand already understands the phrase "Wanna go fishing?"  We took both of the two-man boats.  Mason and Cody were in one while Waylon and I were in the other.  The fish were a little harder to find than the were a couple of mornings ago but eventually we located them.  They were also a little less aggressive and I missed a lot of takes.  I was hoping for the same scenario that I reported yesterday because I really wanted to the boys to experience some good fishing.

While they played around in their boat and ate snacks, I scouted and tried to find the right place and a fly the fish wanted.  In doing so, I caught a few fish myself.  Yes, that was to get the attention of the boys.  That's a classic parenting move.  Anyway, while bringing in a few fish, I think I caught another natural hybrid.  This one looks similar to yesterday's picture but the markings and coloration is a little different.  The fish definitely has more bluegill qualities but also has that red coloring on the gill flap.  The turquoise coloring also points to redear.  Regardless, it was an interesting catch.

Eventually, I talked Mason into wetting a line.  It didn't take him long to catch a small one and oddly enough, that was the fuel needed to light a fire.  Usually Mason likes to catch one fish and call it quits.  Sometimes he won't even fish unless, and these are his words, "The fish are active and I can catch a big one."  After that small fish though, he wanted a bigger one.  I was glad to see that motivation.  He ended up catching a slightly bigger bluegill and then caught a decent redear.  While he was taking some pictures with the redear, he got another bite but missed the fish.  I accidentally snapped some pictures of the situation that played out and the results were pretty funny.  

He ended up catching one more but the real success came in the independence he gained.  He was able to operate a boat (with his younger brother in it), cast a fly rod out of the boat, hook fish, unhook fish, and release fish.  He only had a couple of knots with the fly rod and only but one fly in one tree.  He was pretty proud of himself and even said out loud, "That was a lot of fun.  It's kind of boring when you're not catching fish but catching them was fun."  I was happy to hear him talk about something other than YouTube and see him smile at something other than an Xbox.