Last week, we were on vacation at our friend's lake house on the New York- Pennsylvania line. Everyone got lucky with the fishing this year. We must have caught at least 20 fish, mostly sunfish and various basses (largemouth, smallmouth, and rock). All six kids caught one or more fish under Husband's patient tutelage.
I enjoy fishing, but I'm in it more for the relaxation aspect. The prospect of dinner used to be a big draw until I realized how long it takes to catch an actual fish, and how small and bony river and lake fish tend to be. So now I'm just happy to spend hours casting about with no real action until my hook inevitably gets wedged between some rocks or tangled in a clump of water weeds. That's my cue to call it quits.
This year, though, I caught two fish, including the large-mouthed bass pictured above. It was quite unexpected. I mean, just look at what I'm wearing. That is not the outfit of a serious fisherman. I assumed I was foolishly trying to reel in another rock because my rod was bent so severely, the weight so heavy and unyielding, but then an actual fish jumped out of the water as I struggled to reel it in. It was the biggest fish of the week and by far the biggest fish I've ever caught (if you don't count this one). We removed the hooks and put our catch into a kiddie pool filled with lake water on the dock so the kids could observe the different species and build shelters for them out of rocks. By then, they're almost like pets. We let them all go before dinner each night.
Our lakeside fish-fry will have to wait another year.
Nice job everyone! That is the most beautiful fishing dress I have ever seen Tammy.
Posted by: Donna | August 04, 2014 at 04:15 PM
Donna: Haha. Clearly I wasn't expecting to catch any fish!
Posted by: Tammy | August 04, 2014 at 06:09 PM
i was delighted to bring a similarly sized bass aboard my kayak, using non-other than my favorite scoobie-doo fishing pole, with which i cannot usually land a fish that size (that's ok because i let those big guys go and keep the bony little panfish for dinner). but i didn't have a rubber glove. what is with the rubber glove?!
Posted by: snippyscissors | August 07, 2014 at 08:43 AM
snippyscissors: Congrats! Scooby-Doo must be your lucky fishing pole! The rubber glove is just to keep a better grip on the fish when pulling out the hook. Also, sometimes they're spiny!
Posted by: Tammy | August 07, 2014 at 09:38 AM