CMA719's son

[CMA719]

Hey Tom and Company,

Thank you for the kind words. I am very proud of them and also very fortunate to be sharing this sport with them and learning together along the way. As you mentioned it's about time spent with them and the values that are passed along.

Regarding the situation, I'm not surprised that he reacted the way he did. Over the past year we've seen quite a few instances where people are keeping way over the limit, disrespecting spots, trashing areas, etc. It's really sad and shameful. We understand and respect creel limits, but we've seen people make really poor choices. The boys understand (in kid terms) what this could mean for the future of the fishery, and they're as unhappy about it as I am.

Regarding this particular circumstance, the thing that was in the back of my mind when she first asked about keeping it was that she was with a young kid in questionable economic times. If I had any evidence at all that her and her son were hungry I would have been more than fine with taking a few dollars out of my own pocket and giving it to her instead of giving her the catfish. 10 bucks buys what? 2.5 lb of beef? That's a week's worth of dinners for her and her son. She didn't articulate anything like that, instead she just followed my son (closely) around the dock insisting on taking it, not respecting his space or feelings about it at all. Not cool.

There were some things about it that bothered him and he wanted to talk about afterwards. We sat down afterwards to chat, he needed some affirmation, but he knows that he did the right thing.

Thanks again for the kind words. I'm very proud of them both for many reasons. They're good fishermen, and good people.