It finally paid off!

When both Ivana and Leona want to go fishing with Tata, it is no surprise. He has been taking them fishing and teaching them the way to cast, find a bait and reel the fish in, basically, since they began to walk. The girls are running to dig for worms on the side of the house as soon as they smell the opportunity to go fishing. Ivana will crack snails and hook them up like there is no sliminess or stickiness, and almost certainly will pull a fish out of the lake.

Leona has just learned to cast on her own, and is very excited about her achievement. Milana's B-Day present was a pink fishing pole that she couldn't wait to finally start using, since it was given to her in the winter.

Once, Mirek helped her to cast the pole, she held it in her hands for a few minutes and then ran off to play with dirt and rocks. She forgot about it and so dd we. The pole was in the water till next day, when we came again and were astonished to see a fish hooked up to it. The fish was dead, unfortunately, but we still announced "first catch" for her.
For the last two weeks or so, Mirek was on a roll. He was determined to get the biggest fish in the Delaware river. He has started writing an article for a European fishing newspaper and was in desperate need of a visual proof of a river monster.

Believe it or not, the girls were the troopers! Waking up at 4:30 am, to be on the river before sunrise IS quite an adventure and a challenge for kids their age. They would spend a few hours on the river way before the sunrise, when the morning fog is simply majestic. When the air is freshly crisp and full of early morning sounds very little words are needed. They would sit next to each other, shivering a bit, and watch the world slowly wake up.

And by the time they are ready to come home, they are full of wonderful stories to tell. "Mom, guess what! We saw a bear with three cubs!", "Mom, guess what! We saw a fox!", "Mom, guess what! We saw thousands of tad poles eating dead fish!", "Mom, guess what! We saw golden eagle!", and so on. And their Mom would have just woken up and fed breakfast to their two younger siblings... Oh, well. Soon enough the other half of the family will join in!
I think Mirek has been creating some fantastic memories for the girls that they will cherish forever!

And... ta-da! It finally paid off! The river monster it is! It's a carp, weighing about 20 lb. Mirek did dot have a scale, unfortunately, but he said his hand was really hurting him when he was holding the fish. That picture will become a great addition to a great fishing article he has been working on.

Now he wants to catch even bigger one. But next time it will be fishing in the Great Lakes, lakes and streams of Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and the Pacific Ocean. It is a countdown...