Pete’s First Fish

By

Alan L. Bryant

     Pete’s dad taught him at an early age to savor the pleasures of fishing, and of tricking those elusive and irascible creatures into the frying pan.  At three years of age, Pete joined his father on his first ever fishing expedition to Story Lake.  The lake was nestled in a serene valley surrounded by tree-covered mountainous terrain.  The water was a deep baby blue color with shimmering specs of light dancing off the rolling waves. The young impressionable boy was oblivious to the beauty and wonders of nature.  His curiosities, and innocent attention, were focused on his father, and Pete tried to emulate the mannerism of the man he revered as a god.

     Pete’s dad had bought him a cheap Zebco reel attached to a short rod.  He didn’t expect his son to catch anything his first time out, but he took care in setting up Pete’s tackle, slipping on a bobber and tying on securely a sharp eagle claw hook.  His dad grabbed a cold slimy worm from an old tin can and pulled the worm from both ends, separating the condemned bait into two pieces.  The worm continued to wiggle on both ends, not realizing that it would soon be dead.  

     Taking one of the pieces of bait, Pete watched as his father stuck the worm with the hook, causing some of the guts to squeeze out from the broken end. Amazingly, the worm was still active and wiggled violently to escape its inevitable fate, but to no avail.  The more it wiggled, the better, because the motion created by the struggle would entice the fish to bite.  Pete was curious and reached out for the doomed worm, but his father quickly clutched his son’s hand, and warned him sternly against touching the dangerous hook.  His father casted his son’s bait out into the clear water, showing Pete how to cast it out and reel it in if he got a bite. 

     The last words he said to his son before setting up his own tackle was “don’t reel it in unless you got a fish.”

     Relaxing on the shore, father and son sitting close together, watching the bobbers float in the water, waiting with anticipation for them to be taken under by the tug of a hungry fish; “Boy that’s the life” his dad was always known to say.  It was for Pete a good life because he was spending quality time with the man he admired and loved above all others.