Roll 'em In

Among our three sons, brotherly competition exists. Each one has his own expertise. The others often try to exceed the expert. But when the expert wins time and again, the others bow out. To hook the others' interest, a separate party must offer the bait.

Saturday morning the boys' grandpa did just that. During this lake cabin weekend, Paka crept over to his oldest grandson asleep on an attic cot. He whispered, "Isaac, put your toe-sy on the floor if you're awake."

Isaac's big toe touched the floor. Paka continued, "Put your other toe-sy on the floor if you want to go fishing."

This grandson groaned. Fishing was middle-brother Aaron's game. Undaunted, Paka replied, "It's early morning – when the big fish bite."

A few moments later, a second big toe wiggled out from under the covers and slowly stretched to the floor. All week, Isaac had silently prayed to land a whopper... something that would make everybody say: "WOW!"

Upon their arrival Friday, Aaron started catching fish, including his favorite – a big bass – in the late afternoon. This sunrise outing, while the "Bass Master" dozed, motivated Isaac to jump in the boat and wet his line.

Before breakfast, the boat returned with a grinning grandson holding his whopper.

"Wow!" Aaron shouted when Isaac showed off his big-mouth bass. Aaron promptly retrieved Friday's catch from the live box. In a nose-to-nose comparison, the head of Aaron's bass fit inside the mouth of Isaac's fish. Moments after breakfast, Aaron set off in the boat with Paka while Isaac headed off to nap.

An hour later, the boat returned. With this catch, Aaron matched his first keeper. His hands now held a pair of bass beauties... But nothing near Isaac's whopper.

Next Noah took his turn in the boat with Paka. Before noon, the youngest brother returned with super-sized sunfish and a fish tale of the "almost-landed" walleye that snapped his 8-pound fishing line.

And so... competition in the fishing realm is back between these brothers. "Who's the expert?" is up for grabs once again. However, on this fishing trip, my vote goes to the guide. He rolled out his grandsons, so they could roll 'em in!