I was Catfished

Noah and I love to fish together. It’s one of our favorite things to do. We have many different fishing gear. We have all kinds of lures and hooks. Noah always makes fun of me because I have an old oven mitt as my glove. It works well. I am really good at taking the hook out of the fish and letting it go free. We always catch and release. I knew a girl who caught a bunch of fish and had them live in the bathtub until my friend came home and made her get rid of them. We have a small pond in our backyard, so we occasionally fish in it. It is stocked with quite a few fish. Many carps and even several catfish. The fish are very eager to jump on your hook and eat your bait. I always fish with raw bacon, I know it is a waste of bacon but it makes great bait. I can’t stand the thought of using worms.

We also like to just feed the fish. They always seem very hungry. I decided I was going to feed them some bread so I went down to the pond and started ripping up bread. The fish were barely letting it get wet before they devoured it. I also noticed there were four catfish just hanging out eating the bread. Noah was at school, but I decided, I was going to catch a catfish. I grabbed some bacon, our fishing rod and tackle box. I also grabbed Noah’s camera, because it’s waterproof. I didn’t want to bring my phone because it could have gotten wet.

I caught a few carps and told them I wasn’t fishing for them today. I was a woman on a mission. I almost gave up and went inside. I decided to try one more time. So, while I was fighting the little fish away from my bait, I caught a catfish. We have never caught one before. I was so excited. The catfish was so strong. It was difficult to reel in. I was walking farther away from the pond to help pull it in some. The road was almost completely bent. I quoted The Hunchback of Notre Dame and kept saying reel it in, give it some slack. Finally, I got it out of the water. I was shaking once it was on land. They are really ugly and their whiskers are creepy. I took a few pictures but for some reason the camera didn’t work and technology failed me. I was too focused on holding on to the rod and how I was going to get that sucker off the hook. I wasn’t looking forward to touching it. Catfish have barbs and it was very angry at me. I didn’t think to check if the photos came out or not. I was really excited to show Noah.

I think it had enough of me, so it broke the line and jumped back in the water, I ended up with pond scum smacking me on the forehead. It was a very proud moment for me. It reminded me that I can do anything, if I put my mind to it.