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For most of us, May Long is the start of the year’s camping season, even though we Albertans know exactly what Mother Nature has planned for us... snow! But year after year it doesn’t stop families from getting to the outdoors.
Little did I know that this year’s May Long camping trip would be an extra special, long-lasting memory, and a possible fishing addiction for my sweet little 5-year-old daughter, Taylor.
Everything leading up to this big event started with a good ol’ brother rivalry between Taylor’s Uncle Reece and dad Chad.
After numerous trips to sporting goods stores and hundreds of dollars spent on gear, both us guys thought that one of the many lures we each picked would be the one to land the big fish... were we wrong!
Getting the camper loaded and ready for the trip, Taylor came walking over and said, “Dad, this is my new fishing rod, my tackle box, and my new lucky fishing hook!”
“Okay kiddo! How do you know it’s lucky if it’s new? And where did you get it?” I queried.
“Dad, it’s lucky because I said so, and I picked it out at the Dollar Store. They’re the only place that Mom and I could find my fishing rod in my favourite colour yellow. And that’s where I found my lucky hook. Can you pack it and be very careful not to lose or break it?”
To which I had a little laugh, “Okay kiddo!” I thought to myself the hook looked more like a novelty item... don’t think we’ll try that one. Good thing I have some other lures.
The closer we got to our campsite, the girls could see the river out their windows and the questions went from are we there yet to “Dad, as soon as we stop, we want to go fishing.”
“Sounds good,” I laughed. “Mom can set up camp.”
Even though that sounded like a great idea and was three against one for fishing, Mom still won. Camp was set up in record time though.
By that time, Taylor’s uncle and family had made it to camp. The girls helped them set up camp too and then before they knew it, we were all off down to the river.
After three hours of no bites, no sign of any fish and very poor weather – we were soaked – we decided to head back to camp, start a fire, get warm, barbecue and brainstorm. Taylor kept saying the reason we didn’t catch any fish was because she didn’t have her lucky hook she picked out.
As bedtime came for the girls, I showed Taylor’s Uncle Reece her luck hook and he too agreed that he didn’t think it would work. So we snuck away with some other hooks to try. Unfortunately, we should have stayed at camp because the next three hours were expensive and discouraging; cast after cast, losing entire lure setups in trees, snagged in the river, and knots in lines, we had to quit.
The next morning, Reece got up extra early and went out for three hours by himself and again nothing, just more headaches.
After lunch when the weather cleared up a bit, we decided to try again. After getting the girls set up and putting Taylor’s lucky hook on, we put her on a point that both of us guys had fished previously and watched her cast. I cast my line too and sure enough, right into a tree, the same tree that had now taken five of my hooks! I cut the line and started to tie on a new hook when I looked over at Taylor... “Taylor, where’s your bobber, can you see it? Because I can’t.”
“Yes Dad, I can, it’s right under the water over there.”
“Taylor, I think that hook is way too heavy if it’s sinking the bobber. The bobber has to be on top of the water so you can see it move if you have a bite.”
“Dad, I can see it. It’s okay.”
“All right kiddo!”
Just as I finished tying on my hook, Taylor started yelling, “Dad! I got one!”
I turned around... nothing.
“I think it was just a snag kiddo. Reel in and cast again,” I said.
I cast my line out again and wouldn’t you know it, my ol’ nemesis, Mr. Tree. But before I could start feeling sorry for myself, Taylor started yelling again, “Dad, Dad! I got a fish!” She was right; her little rod was going nuts so I ran over to watch her reel it in. She fought the fish to shore while we were all screaming and cheering. The first words out of her mouth were, “Oh my gosh! That fish is GINORMOUS! See Dad, I told you I had a fish!” Followed by “See Dad, I told you my hook I picked out was lucky.”
By then Reece had arrived, out of breath and wondering what was going on, “Who fell in the river?” Then from the top of the bank he looked down at Taylor, complete amazement on his face. Taylor looked back up at him with a smile from ear to ear. “Look at my ginormous fish I caught Uncle Reece... with my lucky hook!”
On our way back to camp, Taylor made a point of telling every camper she saw about her ginormous fish she caught all by herself with her lucky hook. Sometime between the river and first campsite, she named the fish Sammy.
We arrived back at camp, showed the girls the anatomy of a fish, how to gut, clean, and then fillet Sammy. We put him in a frying pan over the fire with some lemon, peppers and butter. Taylor even said, “Mmm Dad. Sammy tastes pretty good too.”
I gave her a high-five, a big hug, and told her she did a great job on her first fish.
More hours were put in that weekend at the river, many more hooks were lost, and both guys never caught a fish.
Great job showing up your dad and uncle, Taylor. We’re all proud of you kiddo! Great job on your first fish... Sammy! ■
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