"You want to go fishing!"
He had been talking about it for weeks, but today was Mother's Day and he didn't want to disappoint me by taking off in the middle of dinner. I glanced at Annie. She would keep an eye on the kids.
"Come on! Let's go!" I said, grabbing him by the hand.
We live two minutes from the river and in flash I was settling down to watch on the grass near the water's edge. This really was a pretty spot. I could hear noisy birds, and the roar of water pouring over the small dam before rolling it's way over the rocks that extended into the middle of the river. The late day sun gave the newly-leafed trees a gorgeous green glow. The rocky river bottom could be seen through the tea-colored water and an occasional splash verified the presence of more than a few hungry fish. Matt waded in and made his first cast. Hopefully we'd have trout for dinner tomorrow.
Matt's shout alerted me he had indeed hooked something. That was fast! I ran to the car to grab the bucket. Any moment now we would have a trout or maybe a pike to bring home. I sat back down on the grass, bucket at my side, and waited.
An HOUR later I was still waiting. This was ridiculous. What on earth had he hooked? We still hadn't caught sight of the creature, but every time Matt reeled it in closer, it would suddenly take off pulling the line out behind it. The sun was getting closer to the horizon. We were going to lose light before long. He had to land this fish!
Suddenly the fish made for the rocks below the dam and for the first time we saw a sharp tail fin cut through the water's surface. Wait a minute. I knew that profile. These were the telling fins of a fish we had gathered many times to witness during spawning season. We loved these massive, magnificent, prehistoric-looking fish. Lake Sturgeon. Oh no! Matt had unintentionally hooked one! (They're not legal to keep.)
"Matt!" I called. "I think you got a sturgeon. You have to release it!"
Just then I heard a "snap" as the line broke. The fish settled into the shallows near the rocks. Matt waded over to remove the hook and rest of the line. As he grabbed hold to pull out the hook the giant fish executed what looked like an alligator death roll. From the shore all I could see was a massive amount of splashing. A moment later the fish swam off unharmed and Matt was carefully making his way back to me. It was difficult for him to see where he was putting his feet in the dusky light. I prayed he wouldn't fall in.
Poor man. All that work and he couldn't even keep his catch. He had so wanted to bring some fish home. I hoped he wasn't too disappointed. He wasn't. His hand was bruised and bleeding from a small cut, but he was grinning from ear to ear.
"Did you see the size of that thing?" he asked excitedly. "If he stood on his tail, he would have reached up to my shoulder! He must have been seventy pounds, at least! And all that on a six pound test line!"
We returned home that evening without a fish, without a photo, with the only proof of his catch - a Band-aid on his hand... But what a fish story!
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I didn't have a camera when Matt went fishing, but here are a few photos taken last year when our family went to see the sturgeon spawning on the larger Wolf River. Hundreds turn out for this annual event.
Alex was keeping Mary from getting too close.
The DNR catches,measures, and tags some of the sturgeon before releasing them. Huge crowds
gather to watch.
Smile Matt! Your turn will come.
