11-21-2000, 07:29 PM
I am not a fisherman, nor have I ever really been a fisherman. I always found myself getting bored and fidgety waiting for that big one to come along. If it didn’t hit in five minutes, I had to be moving on to something else. So, when my late father-in-law asked me to go fishing with him, I still have no idea why I even said yes!<br><br>I suppose it was the man’s nature. He had a way about him. He was kind, loving, patient, supportive and had a great sense of humor. It was hard to say no to him. As a matter of fact, I seem to recall witnessing many, many people doing things you normally would not have caught them doing, just because Harry asked them to. Just as others would do whatever Harry asked just to see the 
on his face, so did I the day he asked me to go fishing with him.<br><br>Well, being that I was an inexperienced fisherman, I explained that I really had no clue what I was doing. Of course, he asked what I did know about fishing. So, I explained, as a child, I would tie a string to a stick, bend a safety pin, tie it to the other end of the string, put a worm on the pin, drop it in the pond and that concluded my fishing experience. This information did nothing more than brighten his warm and created the need to teach me how to fish, big mistake!<br><br>Well, first things first, I needed a pole. So, out of his prize possessions came a brand new fishing pole, never used by anyone else. This he explained would bring me good luck. He prepared the pole (don’t you guys laugh at me, he put all of the whatamacallits and thingamabobbies on it, that’s preparing it, right?) got me in the boat and rowed to the center of the lake. I could tell that teaching me the art of fishing was truly exciting and pleasing him at the same time. <br><br>Lesson number one, how to cast, hmmmm, was it really as easy as he made it look? I took the pole and did just like he showed me. I flung the pole backwards over my right shoulder, flipped my wrist forward, pushed the button on the thing that lets go of the string (opps, the reel, I pushed the button on the reel to release the fishing line. Yep, that’s it, that’s exactly what I did!) And plop! The string with the pin (oh, no, hook, the line with the hook, sorry!) dropped into the water just in front of the boat. <br><br>“Oh, I just can’t do this!” I whined, really hoping that Harry would see me as hopeless and take me back to shore. <br><br>No such luck! “Don’t worry about it, you just need a little practice.” Harry informed me in his gentle, patient manner.<br><br>So, try and try again, I did, his patience never subsiding. Finally, he stood behind me, grabbed hold of my wrist and forearm, and in a matter of moments, I was casting like a pro! YeeHaw! This might be fun after all! Finally, Harry decided to let me try it on my own, so he stood behind me, just a little to the left and told me to “go ahead, cast!” I did, an almost instantaneously, I had a catch on the hook. I was so excited that I didn’t even pay any attention to the grunts and groans coming from my father-in-law. <br><br>“Look, Dad!” I was so excited. “I have a whopper!” I continued to fight the menacing catch and ignoring my father-in-law’s groans.<br><br>Finally, I knew I needed help. “Help me!” I yelled. “It’s going to get away!” <br><br>He grabbed the pole out of my hand, that’s when I realized what all of his grunts and groans were about! My catch was a big one all right; I had caught my father-in-law by the seat of the pants! <br><br>Okay, so I unhooked my father-in-law, he moved away from me and I continued to cast and reel in an empty hook. Then, it happened, I caught another whopper. I struggled and tugged. I pulled; I released line and brought it taut. All the while, good old Harry sat watching me, laughing hysterically. <br><br><br>“Help me!” I snapped.<br><br>With that he took the pole from my hands and unhooked the hook from the side of the boat. Okay, my first two catches were nothing to write home about. They were also making me a bit upset. Enough was enough, all I wanted was to go back to shore, but no, Harry didn’t see it that way. He was determined that I was going to catch a fish!<br><br>So, I cast and I reeled, cast and reeled, finally perfecting my cast and without catching something other than a fish. I guess it wasn’t so bad after all. Then it happened, my bobber sunk, my line went reeling. <br><br>“S%#t now what did I catch?” Was my only response.<br><br>“You’ve got a whopper!” My father-in-law jumped to my side, trying to pull the fishing pole from my hand. <br><br>Oh, no! No way! If I had a real catch, no one but me was bringing it in, no matter what! So I pulled and I reeled, and I pulled and I reeled. I tried to follow Harry’s instructions, but this must have been a whale, it was giving me the fight of my life. <br><br>Harry leaned over the edge of the boat. “Just a little closer.” He instructed, just as a giant musky jump into the air. (If it wasn’t a jump, I have no clue what it was.)<br><br>I fought with the monster. Giving it slack, reeling it back. “A little slack!” Harry yelled. I pushed my thumb down, but it wasn’t on the reel. I relocated my thumb and pushed again, but not before the tip of the pole broke off and went reeling with the fish and my line.<br><br>“My new pole!” Harry cried as the fish took it into the depths of the unknown, which I would soon discover was the surface of the water at the side of the boat. <br><br>Well, needless to say, I never learned to fish. Harry cut the line and rowed us back to shore. Never again did he ask me to go fishing with him. But he did like to tell everyone he saw about how I broke his new fishing pole. Of course, he also exaggerated the size of the fish, indicating it was much, much smaller than my recollection.<br><br>So needless to say, I never became a fisherman and the only whopper I ever caught was at Burger King. <br><br>by Linda55 : Friday 15 September, 2000 <br><br><br>Submit your Fishing Adventure Stories to win great prizes at ReMemory.Com
on his face, so did I the day he asked me to go fishing with him.<br><br>Well, being that I was an inexperienced fisherman, I explained that I really had no clue what I was doing. Of course, he asked what I did know about fishing. So, I explained, as a child, I would tie a string to a stick, bend a safety pin, tie it to the other end of the string, put a worm on the pin, drop it in the pond and that concluded my fishing experience. This information did nothing more than brighten his warm and created the need to teach me how to fish, big mistake!<br><br>Well, first things first, I needed a pole. So, out of his prize possessions came a brand new fishing pole, never used by anyone else. This he explained would bring me good luck. He prepared the pole (don’t you guys laugh at me, he put all of the whatamacallits and thingamabobbies on it, that’s preparing it, right?) got me in the boat and rowed to the center of the lake. I could tell that teaching me the art of fishing was truly exciting and pleasing him at the same time. <br><br>Lesson number one, how to cast, hmmmm, was it really as easy as he made it look? I took the pole and did just like he showed me. I flung the pole backwards over my right shoulder, flipped my wrist forward, pushed the button on the thing that lets go of the string (opps, the reel, I pushed the button on the reel to release the fishing line. Yep, that’s it, that’s exactly what I did!) And plop! The string with the pin (oh, no, hook, the line with the hook, sorry!) dropped into the water just in front of the boat. <br><br>“Oh, I just can’t do this!” I whined, really hoping that Harry would see me as hopeless and take me back to shore. <br><br>No such luck! “Don’t worry about it, you just need a little practice.” Harry informed me in his gentle, patient manner.<br><br>So, try and try again, I did, his patience never subsiding. Finally, he stood behind me, grabbed hold of my wrist and forearm, and in a matter of moments, I was casting like a pro! YeeHaw! This might be fun after all! Finally, Harry decided to let me try it on my own, so he stood behind me, just a little to the left and told me to “go ahead, cast!” I did, an almost instantaneously, I had a catch on the hook. I was so excited that I didn’t even pay any attention to the grunts and groans coming from my father-in-law. <br><br>“Look, Dad!” I was so excited. “I have a whopper!” I continued to fight the menacing catch and ignoring my father-in-law’s groans.<br><br>Finally, I knew I needed help. “Help me!” I yelled. “It’s going to get away!” <br><br>He grabbed the pole out of my hand, that’s when I realized what all of his grunts and groans were about! My catch was a big one all right; I had caught my father-in-law by the seat of the pants! <br><br>Okay, so I unhooked my father-in-law, he moved away from me and I continued to cast and reel in an empty hook. Then, it happened, I caught another whopper. I struggled and tugged. I pulled; I released line and brought it taut. All the while, good old Harry sat watching me, laughing hysterically. <br><br><br>“Help me!” I snapped.<br><br>With that he took the pole from my hands and unhooked the hook from the side of the boat. Okay, my first two catches were nothing to write home about. They were also making me a bit upset. Enough was enough, all I wanted was to go back to shore, but no, Harry didn’t see it that way. He was determined that I was going to catch a fish!<br><br>So, I cast and I reeled, cast and reeled, finally perfecting my cast and without catching something other than a fish. I guess it wasn’t so bad after all. Then it happened, my bobber sunk, my line went reeling. <br><br>“S%#t now what did I catch?” Was my only response.<br><br>“You’ve got a whopper!” My father-in-law jumped to my side, trying to pull the fishing pole from my hand. <br><br>Oh, no! No way! If I had a real catch, no one but me was bringing it in, no matter what! So I pulled and I reeled, and I pulled and I reeled. I tried to follow Harry’s instructions, but this must have been a whale, it was giving me the fight of my life. <br><br>Harry leaned over the edge of the boat. “Just a little closer.” He instructed, just as a giant musky jump into the air. (If it wasn’t a jump, I have no clue what it was.)<br><br>I fought with the monster. Giving it slack, reeling it back. “A little slack!” Harry yelled. I pushed my thumb down, but it wasn’t on the reel. I relocated my thumb and pushed again, but not before the tip of the pole broke off and went reeling with the fish and my line.<br><br>“My new pole!” Harry cried as the fish took it into the depths of the unknown, which I would soon discover was the surface of the water at the side of the boat. <br><br>Well, needless to say, I never learned to fish. Harry cut the line and rowed us back to shore. Never again did he ask me to go fishing with him. But he did like to tell everyone he saw about how I broke his new fishing pole. Of course, he also exaggerated the size of the fish, indicating it was much, much smaller than my recollection.<br><br>So needless to say, I never became a fisherman and the only whopper I ever caught was at Burger King. <br><br>by Linda55 : Friday 15 September, 2000 <br><br><br>Submit your Fishing Adventure Stories to win great prizes at ReMemory.Com