Gone Fishin'

[Pi]

As leaves rustle, twigs snapping under your weight, the air gets heavy with anticipation knowing you have reached that very spot where you saw that tell-tale swirl in the water. Hoping that by some strength of will you can actuate the species of fish whose wake you glimpsed, you creep along as noiselessly as possible, hardly breathing, intently listening, watching, sensing where the fish patterns himself. Calling up past experiences similar to this in locale, general water clarity, temperature, and time of day you try to find the right lure for the right condition. Perusing your collection of lures (certainly not just a tackle box) a sudden connection is made for some unknown reason to a previous fishing trek with a fish ending up on the business end of your hook. This lure has caused you to smile unabashedly, and lightning quick you have decided to tie this one on. Smoothly, tenderly, you cast your trick out into that foreign world of water breathing animals, hoping your hunch leads to more than just cast practice. As the ripples subside, you wonder just where he is and what he thought of that 'ploop' he couldn't help but hear. Five, ten, fifteen seconds and you lightly twitch your rod tip, causing new, less noticeable convulsions on that fluid plane called the pond. You are always scanning the area for any clues to the whereabouts of those wily and finicky sleuths, from whom so many glorious war stories of man against fish have been told. Or how about the proverbial one that got away (it gets bigger every year?) An explosion of thunder claps your attention to the immediate present. Your fish has taken your lure!! And what a fish!! After the third completely airborne jump in as many seconds, you wonder if your knot was tied tight enough, or if there might be a fray in your line somewhere - something that would allow the beast to escape your snare. Breathing as heavy as a post-coital lover, you unceremoniously yank the fish to you, knowing you have never caught a beauty such as this. It takes more than a couple minutes to calm you down, as your new all-timer starts to drown in the air. The thrill of a lifetime, but not the fish's. Slowly and tenderly you remove the hook and set him back in the water, thanking him for the chance to prove yourself to him. And he returns the favor by swimming off with a splash to your face from his tail, threatening and taunting you that you'll not see the likes of him again, embarrassingly dangling from someone's 4-lb. test fishing line. But I think you'll have at least a little something to say about that.

[Ladyhawk Baggins]

I must confess, I've never been fishing in my life and have only recently acquired a taste for fish, mostly based on my memory of long ago when my uncle caught fresh trout and fried it in butter over an open fire. It was the best thing I'd ever eaten, and was sadly disappointed by all fish ever after. But your tale drew me in like that fish and I could not pull away until the end. Well done.

[Silivren Ithildin]

Really cute, Pi! Makes me want to go fishing again! It has been many years, but, the love of fishing was instilled in me by my Grandparents and lives on to this day. *sigh* If I only had time!

Sil

[Dínelleth]

Well done Pi! You had me "hooked" all along!

[gentle-giant]

unlike Ladyhawk Baggins, i've been fishing before ... but it's been years, if not decades!

but, actually, gentler-half takes gentlest-third fishing fairly regularly during the summer months ... just a city-run pond within a city park most of the time; stocked primarily with blue gill (i believe). i can't imagine either of them putting as much thought into the experience as you've placed within your writing, though. and, as the number of fish they generally bring back into this humble cave would suggest, i certainly can't imagine either one of them ever "tossing one back".

as i read "Gone Fishin'", i was almost immediately reminded of Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish" ... a poem of about 75 lines which concludes:

I stared and stared
and victory filled up
the little rented boat,
from the pool of bilge
where oil had spread a rainbow
around the rusted engine
to the bailer rusted orange,
the sun-cracked thwarts,
the oarlocks on their strings,
the gunnels -- until everything
was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
And I let the fish go.

thank you, Pi, for sharing your experience / your writing with us here. well done ....

[Pi]

Thanks Ladyhawk. when I think of being on the water, I am reminded of family as well - my father was in the US Coast Guard and would take us "down the shore" in New Jersey every year, and of my grandfather, who worked in the US Naval Shipyard in the Brooklyn, NY docks.

Hi Sil - i hope there always a little time to enjoy mother nature, whether or not you catch a fish or not, the other aspects I enjoy are the appreciation of nature, the solitude, and calmness that being on or near waters relay to observers. Catching a fish is a bonus to it all.

Hi Din - I'm glad you liked it. You're punny!

Hi Gentle Giant, that's a nice touch sharing and relating a connection to a real writer/poet. Thanks for that. As you probably know, it's not the size of the fish - bluegill sunfish are known for their fight as well - if you use the right tackle!

Thanks all, I wasn't sure how this would go over, but fishing is something I used to do a lot more of and now only very occasionally.

[daughter_of_kings]

As a child I occasionally went fishing in the creeks back home, but I never caught anything. Thanks, Pi, for showing me what it feels like... a vicarious thrill, but a thrill, nonetheless.

[faramirgirl]

I like that. I have been fishing a few times.

[Pi]

Daughter of Kings - thanks for the reply - don't give up on those little fishies. They are quite fun to catch, and if you care to, they can be tasty as well. I almost always catch and then release mine, though. But even if you don't catch any, there is always the enjoyment of nature and the tranquility of the setting.

Hi Faramirgirl - thanks for caring enough to respond, my fellow ringer and angler!

Nice to see you both on the new boards.

hmm, maybe I need a smiley fishing... thing.

[Silivren Ithildin]

Hi Sil - i hope there always a little time to enjoy mother nature, whether or not you catch a fish or not, the other aspects I enjoy are the appreciation of nature, the solitude, and calmness that being on or near waters relay to observers. Catching a fish is a bonus to it all.

Hi Din - I'm glad you liked it. You're punny!

Thanks all, I wasn't sure how this would go over, but fishing is something I used to do a lot more of and now only very occasionally.

Well said, Pi! Actually, if I catch a fish I have to clean it and that is not my favorite thing to do. Plus, if there is going to be a fishbone that is found after the fish has been deboned, I will find it. This started when I had a fish bone get caught in my tonsil the Sat. before I started 6th grade and continues to this day, WAYYYYYYYYYYYY past graduation.

Oh, Pi, how right you are!!!!! Din is one of the best punsters I have ever known!!!! She is amazing!

I too wish I had the occasion more often.

Sil

[nin_maldor]

It's been forever since I'ev gone fishing. I think I was four years old. My Aunt had video taped my doing so. I picked up my kiddy fishing pole as asked for a BIG juicy worm. It was so cute!

You made me want to go fishing again Pi! I loved it Pi!