Fishing!

Jason and I went fishing at Eagle Creek this weekend. The day started off with a bang, as I was able to try the tube. Yes, the tube. Here is a picture of that of which we speak.

Yes, this is the tube. You get in it and fish. I got all suited up, in the hip waders that are like a wetsuit and too long for my legs, the life jacket, and the flippers, and headed out.

It was pretty fun! Though, I really really didn’t need the life jacket, because I could have stood up in the middle of the lake. It was very strange to have the waders on, and feel like I should have been getting wet, but I wasn’t. I kicked around for a while and then let Jason go.

He didn’t catch anything there, but said he knew a good spot. We walked a ways until we got to this kind floating dock thing. Except it wasn’t really floating much. It was beached. Jason hopped on, and I tried, but I’m a clumsy girl, and I didn’t make it. It’s beached right? So how are they keeping it there? The answer is a big coated steel cable. The problem with this answer is that I found a loop of this cable unexpectedly with my leg. So it kept one leg on shore while the other tried to get to the dock. OWCH. I skinned my knee, bruised my thigh (I don’t know how I did that) and the cable left a really exciting line halfway around my right calf. OWCH. Did I say that before? OWCH. I hadn’t skinned my knee since I was 12. I made a recovery though, and since we were at the fishing spot, we went ahead. Had I mentioned that I haven’t gotten a fish out of the water since about the last time I skinned my knee? An aside

(Once, when my grandfather and I were fishing from shore at their house, a little boy of about 5 or six was also fishing down a ways from us. We saw him drop his pole and come running toward us screaming. Both of us thought that he had hooked himself and was hurt. He ran toward us, crying, and when he got there we were checking him out. We asked him where it hurt but could see no mark on him. He looked up and with giant tears streaming down his face, said “I saw a bug!”.)

Back now. So, we got to it. We were using bee moths, which are really just mealworms. I use the word “we” loosely. Jason did all of the actual worm touching. I chummed the water by shaking a few out. I dunno, it seemed like a good idea, and maybe it worked. I caught my first fish! At least the first one as an adult! It was a green Sunfish. We started pulling them in one right after another. I caught 4 sunfish, like 5 or 6 bluegill, and two catfish.

None of them were very big, about the size of my hand, but it was fun! The bluegill were so pretty, and even the catfish were neat to look at. The last fish we caught of the day swallowed the hook. It was a little bluegill. He got it waaaay far down his throat and Jason was having a hard time getting it out. I put him back in the water for a little break, and we got him out again. When Jason finally got it, we put him in the water and he floated. Jason immediately grabbed him again, and ran him back and forth in the water. It was a close call and it took a few tries, but the fish zipped out of his hand and swam away! I kept looking, afraid we’d see him pop back to the surface, but he never did! Jason saved his life! Yay Jason! I married this guy for a reason, okay more reasons than his fish saving abilities. So, we had a pretty good day, even if I did limp away.