Fishing stories, hunting stories, war stories, birth stories... they all are about the same.  They each involve you personally and you could tell them again and again and never feel guilty.

Here is my fish story...

After having the one and only restful morning of our vacation (ie all the boys out doing restful fishing on the boat while Miriam and I drank coffee, read the Word, watched birds, and swung on the air chair), when the boys came back my father-in-law (aka Grandpa, aka Mark) was itching to go do it again, this time with just Miriam and I. 

We were walleye fishing, which I hear, means a lot of waiting.  We had been out for a while and Grandpa kept saying, 10 more minutes.  Miriam had caught some sunnies and was d-o-n-e, done.  She sat on my lap facing me and was hugging me while I continued to sit and hold my 6lb test line with a big ole night crawler on the end.

Since we were fishing for walleyes, Grandpa had coached me how to notice their bite vs. another fish's bite.  Finally, I thought I had something and responded accordingly and Grandpa was quickly telling Miriam to stand up because Mom had a bite.  It took a lot of coaxing since Miriam was d-o-n-e, done.

Standing up, I had to jam the pole into my hip to keep from losing it into the water as I was pulled all around the boat.  Mark coached me through the whole event, which I could not have done without him.  It was a northern (pike) and they have sharp teeth.  They like to bite through lines but since I had him on the side of his mouth, there was no biting my line off, I merely had to hope my 6 lb line would hold with the drag it was previously set on for walleye fishing.  The fish made 5 runs on me, to the left and right, left and right, and finally under the boat, the battle seemed to last forever.  Miriam was bouncing around me, still d-o-n-e, done, and trying to hold my leg.  The fish was not going to give up but neither was I.

Finally, Mark got the fish in the net and set it in the boat and I screamed like a little girl.  I couldn't tell if my screams were from excitement, the size of the fish or (most likely) the fact that I was so afraid it was going to bite Miriam or I with its big teeth.

It took a while for me to calm down and begin fishing again.  Within 10 minutes I snagged my second fish, a 19" walleye.  Not as exciting (though rather unconventional) but still a good catch.  Grandpa could've fished all day after that excitement but like I said before Miriam was d-o-n-e, done.

So here it is, the fish and I with my father-in-law for extra encouragement.  These are slimy fish and again, the teeth.  3 noteable fish caught in my life, 2 attempts at fishing over 5 years, I figure it is ok to be proud this time.  I can't wait to see what I catch in another 5 years...

And though it is a little fuzzy, my truthful face while holding the fish...