Monday, May 30, 2011

My recurring fishing nightmare recurs

Many years ago, when we were visiting Argentina during Christmas break, my dad, sister, uncles and cousins went on a fishing trip at El Carrizal in Mendoza. Here's a summary of the trip - Luci caught 6 fish - more than anyone else. Nicolas caught 1 fish - and also the smallest of any of the many fish that were caught. This is my recurring nightmare - my little sister outfishing me badly.


Fast forward to yesterday. During my mom and Luci's visit, we went fishing at Schodack Island State Park. Of course on the way there we joyfully recalled the above referenced story and internally I thought how silly my sister would feel after I outfished her, especially since I had been fishing regularly and she probably has not fished since that trip many years ago (so long ago that we were both in K-12).



So there we were taking in the great sights of the Hudson River at Schodack Island. She had already brought in a bullhead catfish.







Then, she suddenly and calmly said, "I think I have something."


That was all she said and started reeling in. I was using a heavy sinker, so I thought she was probably feeling that, but she kept reeling and looking over the ledge into the river hoping to see something. And then I saw this 2 1/2 foot freshwater drum appear in the shallows.








I estimated that it weighed at least 10 lbs.



She caught this with a nightcrawler. I should mention, she caught it with my fishing pole, after I had cast and baited it. So, yeah, I still get no credit for it.



This was not unlike how she destroyed me in racquetball two Christmases ago, after my decade of domination. After a few years, I may get over this fishing incident. Then she'll crush my spirit once again. For the record, she ended up catching 9 fish yesterday, and although I reeled in 4, 3 of them were the smallest of the lot, and the other was a catfish.