Fish, floods and trees

Recent rains have filled the lake behind the house again!

So, after a busy day at work, I had a great idea (while the lake was still in flood stage) — I was going to go fishing!

The frogs were singing, the ducks were swimming around the lake — perfection right?

So, excited I was. I grabbed my fishing pole, took the worms out of the refrigerator and headed to the top of the bank. I baited my line. First issue was the barn cat, Julio. He was very intrigued by the hook and worm. After shooing him away at least a half a dozen times, I cast off. I watched eagerly as my line sailed through the air, down the bank and …. into a tree. Stop the music.

My first thought? FML. I caught a tree before my line even hit the water.

So, down the muddy bank I go to retrieve my line. I grab onto tree branches on the way down to ensure I don’t fall into the water.

After untangling my line from the tree, I decided to stay halfway down the bank — to avoid any more trees.

I cast my line into the water this time. Success!! Down comes Julio, who sits beside me to watch.

I sit. And I sit. And my rear begins to sting. What?! I get up, look down and I had sat in green briar. If you don’t know what green briar is, it’s this vine with thorns that grows and grows and grows. And truly, it’s not pleasant to sit on, especially in shorts.

So this time I stand. And wait. And wait. Not a bite. I saw about 20 ducks and a stray cat, who literally went into the lake trying to catch a frog to eat. But that’s the extent of the action.

I pull my line in, snagging several small trees on the way up (of course). I discovered my worm had come off somewhere along the line — yes, pun intended. I reach down to get another one and try again — I’m not a quitter after all. Only, I had left my worms at the top of the bank, before catching the tree earlier.

So, I just decided to pack it in. Apparently catching fish was not in my cards last night.