Fishing Story

When I was married to my first hubby his parents had a waterfront cottage near Briggsville, Wisconsin, on a sleepy body of water called a slough, which is, as I remember it, a long, narrow lake with a slight current. Actually it was part of Neenah Creek that had been dammed by the Native Americans for growing wild rice. The western bank was ringed by cottages. The opposite side was swampy woods populated by deer and hoot owls. 

It was morning, the mist was still rising from the water. The sun was warm and there was no breeze. It was quiet. You could hear a pin drop. My husband and his dad had taken the boat out to do some early morning fishing. I'm not sure the actual name, skiff, v-hull aluminum something? It had a small motor, and oars. They had rowed and drifted some distance away to the Big Bend when my mother-in-law and I wandered down to the pier with our coffee. 

Suddenly the silence was split with GET YOUR LINE OUTTA THE WAY!!! #@@$%$#@ PULL IN THAT @#$$# ANCHOR!!! @$$%##$ DON'T TOUCH THAT!!!! GET THAT OAR OUTTA THE WAY!!! $%#%$%#$  %%$#@#$

My MIL and I are watching in amusement as my FIL is playing a fish that is literally pulling the boat back toward us! My husband was dutifully trying to get all objects out of the way of the line while trying not to rock the boat too much all the while his agitated, red-faced father was cussing loud enough for everyone to hear him a mile away! 

We held our breath the moment when dad was shouting at son to net the fish! My poor hubby was dammed if he made one slip and lost his dad's prize. Judging by the cussing he was certainly between the net and a hard place. All ended well with a sigh of relief when the fish was landed. The boat had been pulled about the distance of a couple football fields at least, all the way back to the pier. FIL was out of breath, smiling from ear to ear and hubby held up his catch. It was a blue channel catfish. I don't remember the exact weight but 29 pounds comes to mind.

So that's my best fishing story.