smile and show me your fish

First, a warning - if snakes skeeve you out, don't scroll down to the next photos. (I would expect the same courtesy if someone were to post a picture of a spider - or a clown... !)

The other day we went fishing in a small pond at a local park. The boys were going for bass, and I was catching bluegill (and just happened to get the one little bass in the photo). I had forgotton to bring the tub o'worms that I dug from the yard at home, but luckily I had also packed a cheesy mett - just in case we wanted to throw a hunk out for a catfish. Apparently bluegill love cheesy metts, and I did very well (although I was probably catching the same few fish over and over again).

As I was fishing I noticed a snake sticking his head out of the water right in front of me. He was adorable (I love snakes!). And he was hungry. As I pulled in fish next to him, he would try to catch them. And he caught this one in the photo. I was able to pull the fish out of the water and the snake let go. Fish seemed to be ok, and swam off. Jim later looked up snakes online, and this guy was a Northern Water Snake. Totally harmless.