The Big One That Got Away

You’re not going to believe this. In fact, I know you’re going to think it’s a leftover April Fool’s joke. But it’s not. I swear!

I CAUGHT A FISH LAST NIGHT AT THE POND. MM said he’d like to have supper early and then hike down to our pond and see if we couldn’t catch a crappie or two. We’d put crappies in the pond several years ago and he thought maybe he (or I) could catch something meaningful by now. (We’ve also got those little –I mean LITTLE—blue gills, and the odd bullhead or two in the pond)


So, I packed up camera, tripod, fishing rod and I even went out and dug some worms. We grabbed a fast bite of dinner around 5:00 p.m. and headed out to the pond.


MM baited up and got ready to “hitch ‘n sit a spell.” I, on the other hand, couldn’t resist the play of reflections on the pond and the past-their-prime cattails.  So I set up my tripod, got the camera organized on it and set about the capture of some reflection shots of the pond. 

MM continued sitting and casting and sitting and casting….


Finally, I got my fill of the sun-going-down lighting, so I parked the camera on the tripod out of potential harms’ way (we had two bouncey dogs with us), got my fishing rod, dug out a worm, hooked it on—and, of course, all this while MM is still casting and sitting and casting and sitting.


I threw (I did not CAST!...I THREW) the line (hook, line, and sinker plus worm!) into the pond.  It wasn't pretty.


Maybe TWO SECONDS went by and –BAM!--the biggest doggoned fish hit my worm!!. Huge swirls of water boiled up from below!, I looked over at MM. His mouth was wide open! Jessie came over and peered into the water as I was reeling it in. Even SHE was amazed.  Finally I managed to land what turned out to be an enormous crappie.


“Keep it or throw it back?” I yelled to MM. Silence. Mouth still open. “You want it? Or not?” MM was so amazed he was speechless! I giggled. “Come on! Which one? Keep or throw back?:


“I guess th-throw back,” he stammered.


Quickly—because we’d been dawdling around and I didn’t want the poor fish to suffer any more than it already had at my hands, let alone die before I could return it to the pond, I fumbled trying to get the hook out. MM ran over and offered me a pair of pliers, then offered to take the hook out of the fish’s mouth for me. (In true gentleman fashion!) In no time, it seemed, he was able to unhook the crappie, place it gently in the water, and we watched it swirl away out of sight, basically unhurt.


But guess what. With the camera right behind me, I was so intent on getting it back into the water….I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THE FISH!  Trust me….(or ask MM!) it was a BIG fish for our LITTLE pond! As for my catching it (and not MM)….over forty-plus years of marriage, this type of thing has happened many, many times: I catch the big ones –like this—on the first cast, with no effort…and MM catches the little ones (or gets skunked)—after many casts and a lot of effort! It’s embarrassing! Indeed, not ten minutes after my catch, MM snagged a three-incher! But at least he caught SOMETHING!

*****

Thank you all for all your comments this past week. I have to admit I’m falling behind in my blogging responsibilities. This nice weather has totally demolished my ability to stay pinned to the chair in front of the computer. Over this coming weekend I will catch up and post comments. I’m thinking about posting later in the day as summer heat increases. That way, MM and I will be out in the garden EARLY before the heat (and with the best light for photos!) and go back inside where it’s more pleasant during the heat of the day.

*****

If you are of the Christian faith, I wish you a peaceful, thoughtful Easter.

Here’s the last shot I took yesterday as we came up from fishing….Peace.

 

Thanks for visiting with me this past week. Have a lovely weekend! See you Monday!