boatingonthehudson.com HOLIDAY 2013
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Some rocks he could hardly pick up
but he knew the effort was worth
the splash. Occasionally, he would
choose a rock too large to throw.
He would manage to get the rock
up behind his head, only to drop it
behind his back. Not giving up, he
would turn, pick up the rock and
try again now using the other arm.
Even bouncing the rock off the back
of his head would not prevent him
from trying again until he achieved
the “big splash”.
His connection to the river was so
strong, that he would wake up ask-
ing my daughter in his own way to
see the pictures of he and I throw-
ing rocks into the river; “Pop throw”
he would say. Now standing on the
deck, he would tilt his head, point
to the water with his little finger,
turn his wrist, “Pop throw”. There
would be cold pizza for lunch.
About a week later we gathered
again on the deck, this time with
my son-in-law’s family for din-
ner. This time, I was prepared to
introduce Matteo to fishing. Mat-
teo was no stranger to fish, having
touched the eye of a striper twice
his size, but he had not caught his
first fish yet. Snapper blues are the
perfect fish to introduce a child to.
They are numerous in late summer,
and they congregate in the marina
basin to feed aggressively on small
silversides, baby stripers, bunker
and herring. The only caution is
that their razor sharp teeth need to
be avoided at all costs.
I prepared for this night by bring-
ing along a small fishing pole and
some silversides for bait. I chummed
up a few fish to the surface to be
sure they were there before bringing
Matteo down to the water. I went
up to the deck to retrieve Matteo,
where he greeted me at the steps. A
seagull flew overhead and I pointed
it out to him. He tilted his head,
reached out his pointed finger and
turned his wrist and said “cow”.
Matteo had learned the word “cow’
recently and all objects were inter-
mittently labeled as such. Matteo
grasped my finger and we walked
down to the marina basin where the
fishing pole was waiting.
I held Matteo in one arm and
casted the baited line into the water.
We waited and watched the red and
white float for signs of movement.
The float twitched and began to
move sideways and then it went
under, “fish on Matteo!” I shouted.
Placing the fishing pole in Matteo’s
hands we began to reel. The fish
broke sideways until it felt the hook
set then it went straight down. We
reeled until the float surfaced and
in one motion we lifted the little
snapper out of the water; Mat-
teo’s first fish. I held the fish up for
Matteo to see, and like all children’s
reaction to their first fish, Matteo
reached out to touch the eye. I held
the fish out of reach because a snap-
per’s sharp needle like teeth can de-
liver considerable damage to a little
finger. We took some quick photos
and Matteo helped me release the
fish into the water. It was dinner
time and the pizza was getting cold.
I had two bites of pizza when
Matteo turned to me, sucked in his
cheeks to make a fish face, tilted his
head, pointed his finger toward the
water and turned his wrist; cold
pizza again.
Matteo and I snuck away from the
family and I carried him down to
the marina basin for one last fish. I
quickly baited the hook, casted out
the line and waited. It was dark
now and a full moon was rising in
the east casting it’s reflection in the
water and illuminating the boats
in the basin, painting a beautiful
serene picture. It was one of those
unforgettable special moments. I
forgot all about the fishing pole
we were holding and focused solely
on Matteo. I got Matteo’s atten-
tion and pointed to the moon and
said “moon’. Matteo focused on the
moon and hesitated. He tilted his
head, stretched out his arm, pointed
his little finger toward the moon,
turned his wrist and said “cow’.
Love Always,
“Pop”
Dennis Kooney and Matteo throwing rocks
Dennis Kooney, Matteo and first fish
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