Save your fish, protect your hook

By Laura Luettger
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The warmer it gets outside and the closer it gets to spring, the more I can’t stop thinking about playing outside. Being inside for however many months a year almost drives me insane. While I like winter, I love spring and summer.

As I make a list of things I have to do starting this spring, it seems only appropriate to relay one of the most traumatic stories of my past summers. This particular story isn’t really as traumatizing as it is a life lesson about how to fish, and what do to when a poor fishy gets caught.

First, let me give some background information.

It all started years before I was born when my father took the position of lifeguard at Oquaga Creek State Park, down near Deposit, N.Y. For as long as I can remember, he was the head lifeguard until a few summers ago when he decided to paint with his fellow teachers during the summer instead.

When I was 11, I began going to the beach with my dad every day. (Before that I would go every weekend with the rest of my family; during the week I attended summer program.) At the beach, my sister and I owned the world. We could swim whenever we wanted, order whatever food from the concession stand we wanted and flirt with all the cute lifeguards.

We even had secret forts in the woods — little natural cubbyholes that kept us away from the rest of the world. We made friends with some kids who had a summer home up near the lake. We used to play the Ouija board in our forts, discover hidden paths and sun ourselves in the paddle boats out in the middle of the lake.

These summers were probably the best summers of my life. Summer always meant tootsie rolls, cards, Frisbee golf, blackberries, super blonde hair and being super tan (not that it mattered at the time). It also meant fishing with my dad.

Fishing with my dad was one of my favorite activities. When my dad was working, I would stand on the banks fishing with my brother, but we never caught anything. The best place for fishing was in a rowboat on a rainy day with my dad.

Normally, I wasn’t the best. Every once in a while I might catch a poor little sunfish or rainbow trout. (Rainbow trout were my favorite to catch because they were so pretty.) My dad was a pro though. He always managed to catch about five bass per day. (OK, I might be exaggerating, but he was better than I was.)

So anyway, one beautiful day, my dad and I were fishing. We weren’t really in the deep part of the lake, but in the shallow part near where a stream emptied into the lake. I felt a tug on my line and started squealing. My dad was yelling, “Keep your line tight!” as I reeled the monster in.

When the fish broke the surface, I was impressed. I had managed to catch my first bass. It was approximately four inches long and probably weighed an ounce or two. I couldn’t believe I had caught one of the elusive beasts.

As my dad went to take the little fishy off the hook, we realized it had managed to get all three prongs of the hook stuck in his mouth. Not only that, but one hook was stuck behind his eye. I was horrified at what I had done.

My dad worked on the fish for what seemed like an eternity. He had to keep dipping the little guy in the water to make sure he would survive. Finally, with one final tug of the pliers, the baby was free to go. When my dad put him in the water, he sat there for a moment, kind of bobbing. My dad was coaxing him to swim away, and finally it looked like he did.

I couldn’t look back as we rowed away from that spot, and didn’t dare ask if the fish made it. It was like that scene in My Girl when Thomas J. tells Vada that the fish made it, even when it didn’t.

As we left that day, all I could think about was how I might have accidentally killed the poor fish.

Even today when I go fishing, I’m worried about injuring the fish, but I love fishing too much to stop. There’s something about perfecting my cast and making sure I avoid the bushes that just appeals to me.

So when I think about summer and make my to-do list, this is what I think about. I can’t wait to go fishing again, although I’ve gotten much better at hooking the fishes the right way.