Fish Tales

I was sitting in the boat, basking in the sun, feet propped up, munching Cool Ranch Doritos, and holding my fishing pole.  All of a sudden, I felt something tug on the end of my pole, and scrambled to start reeling it in.  I'm pretty sure everyone at Milford Lake heard my excited screams as I struggled to reel in the fish that must have weighed a couple pounds.  Sweat beads started to gather on my forehead as I kept working.  All of a sudden, reeling became easy.  Too easy.  I knew that familiar defeated feeling, and my heart sunk...the fish got away.

I wish I was a good fisherwoman, because if I was, I'd sit here telling you that I caught too many fish to even count.  Fact is, I didn't catch one.  Nada.  2 1/2 hours on the lake and I had NOTHING to show for it...unless you count the weird sunburn.  Before you skin cancer nuts start lecturing me, you need to know that I DID put on sunscreen--I even put more on after an hour on the water.  For some strange reason, I have these white streaks on my left arm in the midst of the sunburn.  Attractive?  Nope.  But, it could be a great conversation starter.

Why do I like fishing so much?  I'm not sure.  I've always enjoyed the thrill of catching fish, even though I hate eating them (and all seafood for that matter--except coconut shrimp from Red Lobster).  That whole "you have to be quiet when you fish" rule is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard.  Personally I think some guy invented that rule in order to shut up his nagging wife.  I've had fish bite when I was talking, so I don't ever abide by the quiet rule.  I even like to sing when I'm out on the open water--the louder, the better!  While I absolutely avoid most things in nature at all costs, for some reason I love to fish.

When I wasn't catching any fish, I decided to focus my attention on something else--the other boats on the water.  I kept hoping one of them was the game warden, and that he'd come over to check my fishing license.  Yes, I am the proud owner of my very first fishing license.  Didn't realize I needed a license to fish.  But, now that I had one, I wanted to show the world--or at least the guy on the boat patrolling the lake.  No such luck.  I didn't even see a boat that resembled the lake cops.  Darn it.  Having a fishing license and wanted to get carded is like when I turned 21 and wanted everyone to ask for my ID.  Once I hit 25, it got a little annoying.  But, now that I'm weeks away from turning 31, I like STILL getting carded.  So, hopefully the next time I'm out on the open water, I'll catch at least one fish AND be asked to show off my fishing license.  Wishful thinking I'm sure...