The Fishing Trip

As they walked down the bank of the river Alisha and her dad laughed and joked about anything and everything. They went to the same spot every trip. It was a little out cove, down a small dirt trail in a thicket of trees. The river was called the Saginaw River, and it was stocked full of many fish species. Though they mainly caught bass, they didn't care what they caught as long as they were together. Alisha, about eleven years old at the time, her dad never let her get too far ahead. Alisha was slightly stockier and a little over five feet tall. She has a happy-go-lucky personality that was contagious and full of energy.

The Sunday fishing trip was always her favorite part of the week. Carrying the pink pole that was nearly taller than her, she ran down the trail into the bright summer morning light. She could see the banks of the river and could feel the early morning dew soaking slightly into her old, white, worn-out sneakers. Across the river, on the opposite bank, a heron could be seen. Standing perfectly still as if a statue. It looked down into the shallows waiting for an unfortunate little fish to come along. Alisha looked up just in time to see it snatch a fish straight out of the water. The little fish struggled for its life, to no avail. The heron swallowed it whole and again looked down, once again a statue, trying to find another.

Pointing it out to her dad, Alisha was very excited to see the heron, and exclaimed, "Look, dad! It just caught a fish!" Her dad just smiles and nods in agreement. They reach the bank of the river, setting their things down on a little rock. They look out over the calm water and think long and hard about the past week. It has been a long week and they were just glad to be together enjoying the early morning sun. Alisha's dad helps her bait her hook, then she casts the line into the calm, almost clear water. The bobber lands with a plop and starts to drift slowly right. It suddenly is sucked under the water, disappearing. She gives the line a yank to set the hook. The line gives a jerk and the fight is on. The fish dove down deeper into the water, then gave a valiant leap into the air trying to shake the hook loose. Keeping the line tight, she expertly reeled the fish in. She grabbed the fish and took the hook out. Studying the fish, she saw that it was a small-mouthed bass, and a big one at that. After taking the picture, she released the fish into the water that it calls home. She watched the fish go and just smiled.

That was her favorite part of fishing, not the fight, but the release. Just after she released the fish, another fish jumped out of the water a little way down the river. Another bass she thought, her dad seeing it too pointed it out to her. Soon after the first fish was caught, Alisha's dad had one on the line too. This one seemed to be bigger than the one she caught. Though as it got closer she soon realized that it was just about the same size as hers. Once again photos were taken and the fish was released. She watched it swim away and realized how free it truly was. It went wherever it felt and only had to fear life itself. Lost in thought she is just staring off into space.

Wondering what's wrong, her dad asks, "Are you ok? You seem lost in thought."

Finally being shaken out of her thought she says, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking." Her dad just smiles and nods knowing it is not that simple, but letting her off is easy. The heron that had been hunting across the river finally flaps its enormous, white wings and soars off into the clear blue sky. Hearing the flapping Alisha looks up just in time to see it fly off into the horizon. While looking up she spots a pair of bald eagles flying overhead.

She points it out to her dad saying, " Look, dad! It's a pair of bald eagles!" He just smiles and nods in agreement. He loved seeing his daughter having fun in nature instead of inside watching tv on the couch. Soon his thoughts went to the sudden jerk on his line. He again gave the line a firm jerk and the fight was on. Right next to him, he sees his daughter doing the same to her line and the fight was on for her too. Realizing how dangerous this could be, he tries to get his fish in as fast as possible. The fish, on the other hand, was not going to give up as easily as he would have wanted. Fighting the whole time, he finally gets his smallmouth to the shore. It wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. It definitely was photo-worthy that was for sure. Alisha was able to get her fish in slightly before her dad and hence was able to take the photo. She ended up taking a selfie so she could release her fish back into the now dark-looking waters, with a splash. Both fish swam away into the depths of the river.