I held Ben’s fishing pole awkwardly, not quite sure what to do next. Looking down to the other end of the dock, Ben was busy replacing a worm on Parker’s hook, and I was left with a line that needed to be cast out into the lake.
Fishing is not really my forte…as in I have only fished off my grandpa’s dock in Ely, MN when I was a kid…15 years ago maybe?
So, I was at a loss.
What I should have done was asked Ben to help me – always a good solution – but instead, I put my finger on this little silver bar and brought the pole back to see if the line would just “release”.
It didn’t.
What did happen is I applied too much pressure to the reel and snapped it in half.
Whoops.
“Ummm, Ben?” I stammered, “I think I just broke your fishing pole.”
As he turned to me (a bit incredulously), the bobber dipped under the water. “You have a fish”, he yelped, as I fumbled with the rod, the broken reel, and the fish. The thought crossed my mind that this was absolutely absurd and that I should have just stayed back at the cabin, but finally…somehow…we got the fish up on the dock. The biggest “little” bluegill of the night.
That should have been the end of the excitement, but I had to get my picture taken with the creature, so a very “helpful” guy on the dock told me to stick my thumb inside the fish’s mouth to hold it up. “It won’t hurt too much”, he said, as I jammed my thumb into the reluctant fish’s mouth as everyone on the dock stared at me expectantly.
Really…it happened. Here’s the blurry picture to prove it. Later, Ben told me I was supposed to hold the fish out at arm’s length so that it looked bigger. Good advice, if you aren’t just wanting to pitch it back into the water.
We called it a night after that…a broken pole, Parker lost his hook in the fray, and the fish…it was time to head back.
Who knew I could snap fishing reels with a single finger and then stick that same digit into a fish’s mouth? Not me.
Disclaimer: Don’t feel too sorry for Ben…he got a replacement the next day…
