Skip to content
Backpacking Dad
Menu
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Contact Me
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Privacy Policy
Menu

The Young Girl and the Sea (Er…Lake)

Posted on 07/11/2012 by Backpacking Dad

The second part of our trip has taken us to upstate New York. Way upstate. So far upstate that you can hit Canada with a rock. We are staying at what turns out to be a fishing resort: they take people out on the St. Lawrence River to go fishing in their boat, and they have a stocked lake on site. The kids found that lake right away.

IMG1076

Erin has been begging me all week to take her fishing in the lake. She’s never done it before (and I have fished maybe three times in my life, including all of the years I lived in this very area), so I was a little cautious, but also no match for her infectious enthusiasm for things she’s never tried. (She ordered, ate, and enjoyed escargot for the first time last night, too. This kid…)

IMG1109

Upon being told that escargot is snail. “Whatever.”

We borrowed some fishing poles, and then this morning we went down to the lake. Erin practiced casting her line over and over and over and over (she wanted to get it “perfect” before putting a worm on the line, she said), and then the real test began.

She baited.

IMG1137

She waited.

IMG1136

She waited.

IMG1135

Worm after worm disappeared into the lake, as tiny guppies nibbled around the edges, dislodging them and denying Erin her prize.

She was dejected.

IMG1139

But she tried again. And again. And again.

IMG1130

And then, a tug! A pull! A violent and desperate exchange of willpower, ideals, and spirit! Can it? Can she? Will she?

Totally.

IMG1142

Not having prepared ourselves for the eventuality of her actually catching a damned fish, we had no bucket. And Emily didn’t want me cooking anything finned in the hotel room. So I removed the hook and tossed the fish back in the water, to live out its days regaling its fishy friends about the time it was caught by a human this big.

8 thoughts on “The Young Girl and the Sea (Er…Lake)”

  1. Jennifer M Miller says:
    07/11/2012 at 9:56 AM

    LOL! The fishy friends will all shake their heads in disbelief. What an amazing backdrop. Did you use photoshop of Gimp? ;)

    1. Backpacking Dad says:
      07/11/2012 at 2:41 PM

      Just my camera phone.

  2. Jim Lin says:
    07/11/2012 at 2:18 PM

    My first real fish was a bluegill too. I am now a fishing fanatic. You better start reading up.

    1. Backpacking Dad says:
      07/11/2012 at 2:41 PM

      Do they cook up good? I need to convince Emily they’re worth keeping.

      1. Jim Lin says:
        07/11/2012 at 2:56 PM

        Not really. You can try to fillet the bigger ones, roll them in cornmeal and fry them (i.e. cover up the not so great flavor), but other than that, I wouldn’t touch them.

  3. alaina says:
    07/11/2012 at 6:53 PM

    I remember fishing around her age and the thrill of catching one – a true reward for good patience.

  4. Disneyland Grandma says:
    07/12/2012 at 6:43 PM

    Fish, OK. But snails? Yikes!
    She’s an amazing child…

  5. Korinthia says:
    07/14/2012 at 5:15 AM

    That’s wonderful! My daughter caught her first fish last summer and it was so exciting.

Comments are closed.

Recent Comments

  • anneglamore on Twenty-One/Twenty
  • Shawn Burns on I Went On a Poutine Vacation, Now I Am Made of Cheese and Gravy
  • Julie on I Went On a Poutine Vacation, Now I Am Made of Cheese and Gravy
  • Jenn H on At The Hundred-Twenty-First Meridian
  • KAREN on Endeavor To Persevere

Looking for Something?

© 2023 Backpacking Dad | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme