For this adventure my buddy Dave took me fishing for the first time. Somehow I missed out on this Huck Finn part of growing up. I've never been full on fishing, like stuck on a boat drinking beers and cooking in the sun fishing. The closest thing I'd ever really even gotten to was going to a trout farm when I was nine years old. You basically stick a fishing rod into the water and pull out a fish.
This was good times fishing. Sitting out on a gorgeous lake relaxing with nothing to worry about. The only thing that could have made this experience better was if it could be done from some sort of boat hammock.
Dave took all the work out of the process and wanted to make sure that I simply had a good time fishing. Really the only thing I had to do was show up. He provided the poles, the gear and the boat and was real passionate about teaching me how to fish. It's pretty awesome having friends like this that care to show you their hobbies. The type of friends that understand you're a complete rookie and don't make fun.
He showed me how to properly bait a hook. Tearing a worm in half and feeding it along the hook. Letting your line out just enough to watch and make sure the worm has a spin and swirl to it. Then letting the line out every couple dozen feet to troll out along the lake while the boat puts along.
This was his annual fishing derby. Where a bunch of good friends come out and have a huge potluck party while also holding a friendly fishing competition. Each person donates either $20 or $20 bucks worth of fishing gear to the pot; biggest fish wins. I think there was about a half dozen boats with about three people on each one. Making it a pretty good size turn out.
The night before the derby everyone was partying and having a great time. I had a little bit too much of a great time. I was making friends and there were people feeding me shots while going cabin to cabin. Maybe not the best idea being that liquored up near open water and open fire pits. But I was in good company, not driving and safe surroundings.
We decided to get some practice fishing off the dock as I was told this is the best time to catch catfish. I was all about it! I love cat fish and used to go up to the corner store growing up to buy fried cat fish all the time. There wasn't much too it, cast a line prop it against the railing and wait for a tug. It was dark out so we had little bells attached to the lines to know if you got a bite. There were probably about eight of us out there BS'ing and waiting around for a bite. When all of a sudden "ring" "ring" it's coming from my line! We rushed over and everyone started to instruct me on what to do. "Okay you got to pull it then reel. Let it out a bit then pull and reel." I listened to my coaches and before you knew it I was pulling up my first ever fish!
I was pumped to catch a cat fish. I've caught my fair share while online dating but here I was with a real live cat fish. It was so ugly and slimy with a gross leather feeling skin. I had no idea how to prep this thing or even what was good to eat on it so I gave it to one of the other guys. I continued on having a good time. The night becomes a little more cloudy from that point on but I do remember almost falling into the water...lucky for me there was a railing. I also remember puking my guts out... While simultaneously freaking out because it was a crimson red. Obviously not remembering the cherry moonshine someone had given me. I ended up passing out on the couch and maintained a cardinal party rule of getting your own shoes off; otherwise you're open game to have people draw on your face. This wasn't that type of crowd. Some angel cleaned up my mess in the bathroom and no one screwed with me while I was sleeping.
I woke up around 9:30am hung. the. fuck. over. therefore late to get out on the water. Dave wasn't in much better condition so I didn't feel as bad. We managed to get the gear ready and start our derby experience but our third member of the boat hadn't arrived yet. We waited another two hours.. for Dave's neighbor Brian to get there. So now I really didn't feel bad for sleeping in a little bit.
Brian gets on the boat and we head towards the hot spot where everyone had already started to catch fish. Nothing..into shallow parts closer to shore, nothing..back out to the deep parts of the lake, nothing..North of the lake, South of the lake, around the little island in the lake, nothing..it was as if all the fish were onto us and none of us could even catch a break.
Dave had me rebait the line a couple times. Making sure I got that good swirl on the worm and letting that line out hundreds of feet. Finally, something..a tug. No way, really?!? All afternoon it's been seaweed or nothing. I reel my line in and boom another cat fish! This guy was bigger than the one I caught the night before and I was much more coherent to deal with it. The guys on the boat were shocked! Nobody ever catches cat fish in the middle of the lake!! They always hang out near the shore! I grabbed that slimy fish stuck a stringer through its mouth and stuck it on the side of the boat.
We continued on for a few more hours with the same results. No fish, no fish, no fish. We got tired of hanging onto our poles and propped them against the side of the boat. Trolled around, admiring the big lake houses and I even drove the boat for a while.
After being on the lake for so long I could pretty much navigate it with my eyes closed we started to head back. Then, snag.. my pole starts to get tight. I grab it and start to reel in. Reeling in for what seemed like forever. How far out did I let this line? I kept pulling and reeling while the guys got a net ready. They get all excited, "there's something on the end of that line!" I end up pulling in a decent size trout and the only other fish that was caught on our boat that whole day!
I had fun, we didn't win the derby or even get close. Our boat got skunked and I was the only one that caught anything. But I was happy and Dave was happy that I was the guy who caught the fish on our boat. It was a good day out on the water.
Things I learned today:
How to catch a fish.
Be open and patient for good things to come your way.
Appreciate good friends and people who're there to show you the way and take care of you.
