Fishing, Part 3

As the sun grew warmer in the sky, so did the competition, at least for me. Just happy to be alive on this glorious first day of fishing, Rob was content with an ‘everything is right in the world’ attitude. He was completely oblivious to the raging war that was taking place right beneath his nose. Fish after fish met their fate as they were taken from the depths of the majestic pond. First from the end of my line and then from Rob’s, the waters produced an array of trout that would please any fisherman, well almost any. Although happy that I was catching fish, I couldn’t help being envious of the larger trout brought in by my husband. Each time we pulled one in and lined them up, the bigger prize was always in his favor.

A day’s limit is five and we each had four. Rob’s line pulled and he was once again reeling, this time his last catch of the day, a splendid 12 inch speckled trout. I smiled and said, “That’s a good one!”, as I prayed one last time that the apprentice could outdo the master. Rob, gazing admirably and lovingly at the day’s bounty, was quickly snapped back to reality by my shouts of excitement. Feeling the shudder of the rod against my palm, I jerked my line to embed the hook within my prey. Encouragingly Rob rushed to my side, ready to assist if needed. He scrambled down the bank, as I turned my reel and strained against the thrashing creature that was fighting for his life.

“I see him!” Rob exclaimed as he bent closer to the water to guide the fish into the waiting net. As the fish continued to fight, I hung on tightly. The rod bent and the beast dragged the line from my reel.

“Finally!” I thought to myself, “This is the Big One!” My perseverance was going to pay off.

Meanwhile, Rob had deftly capture the battling fish and laid him on the bank next to the others. Bursting with anticipation, I pushed him aside so I could get a good look at what I expected to be a magnificent catch. I looked down. The fish that I had fought to shore, the one that pulled and strained against my line, the behemoth that had battled for it’s life lay before my eyes…all six inches of him!

“What?? That’s it?” My disappointment was obvious.

Rob gave me an encouraging hug and said, “Well, at least it’s a keeper.”

“Just barely” I mumbled under my breath, knowing that if it had been any smaller it would have to be thrown back to into the pond to it’s freedom.

We gathered our things and with one last longing look at the pond trekked back to the jeep. Clouds had formed overhead and the air felt moist with expectant rain.

“Great” I thought, “Just what I need, something else to rain on my parade.”
We quickly put the bikini top on the Jeep to keep us dry as the rain began to fall and jumped in for our journey home. Reminiscing about the day’s events passed the time as we drove along the bumpy dirt road leading back to civilization. Rob absolutely glowed as he discussed our adventure and as he talked the disappointing feelings about my catch began to melt away. Just watching his excitement and joy was rewarding enough.

“What’s that?” Rob said, as he looked ahead of us on the gravel road. I followed his gaze and saw movement in the tall grass on the side of the road. Rob shifted into second gear and we slowly approached. Red fur and a bushy tail confirmed that what we spied was a fox. From each side of his mouth protruded the ends of a fish that was at least 20 inches long! The huge fish was stiff and led us to believe that the clever fox had snatched it from some unsuspecting fisherman. The foxes’ eyes bulged as he looked at us with surprise before darting into the safety of the thick woods.
I turned to Rob and we both burst out laughing.

“Looks like I didn’t catch the biggest fish today after all!” he said with knowing tone. I gave him a sheepish look and couldn’t help feeling just a little bit satisfied as we continued on our way home.