My son and I were on a mission to catch some big bluegills, and yes we caught quite a few fish, the real keeper was the time we spent together.

I was lucky enough to get my son for the holiday weekend. We spent the first half with my sister, brother in law and nephew and the second half we spent fishing on a new lake for us in northern Newaygo County.

A buddy and I had fished the lake before and found some pretty big blue gills but only caught a few. My son and I, in hopes the gills would be heading to their spring beds, went back to that lake and yes we caught quite a few fish over two days but unfortunately, except for a few bass, we didn't catch any keepers.

We fished hard Sunday evening and got up really early Monday morning and went out and power fished only to come home with an empty live well two days in a row.

We did catch some keepers though, they were in memories. My son has a great sense of humor and he and I are always finding a way to laugh about something. So needless to say he and I were rolling in the truck to and from the fishing hole as well as out on the lake.

The morning we were fishing, we had a pair of lake lunes that seemed to be following us along and if you are a true Michigander, you know the sound of lake lune. My son started imitating them so good, they began to call and answer with him and he and I just that was the coolest thing.

We caught many blue gill and sunfish and it was so awesome to see my son look them over and admire their beauty. He would look at the beautiful colors the fish had to offer before releasing them back into the lake.

We saw countless turtles on logs and swimming by and under the boat. My son began talking about wondering what it would be like to be a turtle. Just sit around in the sun all day then occasionally hopping in the water for a swim and to eat some fish. He seemed to admire their way of life.

At one point we saw an eagle just flying a long and he was pretty close so you could really see the wing span. At one point some smaller birds were pecking at the back of the eagle and my son says, "hey, that isn't fair." He was referring to the eagle not being able to avoid the little birds. I explained to him, that was the only way they could get the eagle from eating their baby bird eggs they were trying to protect.

My son and I saw numerous amounts of deer driving to and from the fishing hole and saw a few bucks with their horns starting to grow.

After we got done fishing on Monday afternoon and were heading back to the house, my son says, "you know dad, we didn't bring home any fish, but it sure was a great time out there trying." I told him that is the whole point. The best part was knowing he has learned that fishing is more than catching fish, but its the time and experiences you get along the way with the ones closest to you.

That was a keeper of a weekend.

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