The Best True Fishing Story Ever Told
It was a Sunday, September 2012. Sam and her dad Dan had packed up their gear, dug some beefy worms from the garden, and set off to catch some fish. They stopped at a tackle shop to get some hooks and a fishing license, and then continued on to Lake Country, in beautiful BC.
“Dad, where are we going to fish?” Sam asked as they were passing through Winfield.
“Hmm, I don’t know. How about we go over to the far side of Wood Lake, and check it out?” Not actually sure where the best spot was, they wrapped around Oyama and along the backside of Wood Lake. There they found a side road down to the water, and they encountered an elderly couple just loading up from a day on their boat.
“You won’t find anything decent over here, it’s too shallow and full of mil foil. All you’ll catch will be a little squaw fish and they’re no good. Not at all!” reported the old fisherman when Dan asked him where they’d have the best chance of catching a trout.
“You’re best off heading back over to the other side, fishing right off the side of the highway. That’s where you’ll find them!” the old man advised them as Dan and Sam turned back to the car.
“All right kiddo, no worries, we’ll go back and find a good spot over where the old man told us to go.” They spun the tires on the gravel road and ripped back the way they had come. Dan had his doubts about being so close to the busy Highway 97, but the afternoon was already moving along and he wanted to spend at least an hour relaxing by the water and hanging out with Sam.
They parked the car in a turnout along the side of the highway and clambered down to the waters edge where they set up their chairs and began assembling the fishing gear. Dan put new hooks on both his rod and Sam’s “Dora the Explorer” toy fishing rod. He noticed that her line had a knot, about 2 feet up from the hook.
“It’s not like she’ll actually catch anything with this, so don’t worry about it.” he told himself when he realized that the knot was not going to come undone. He hooked a meaty worm on her line and then helped her cast out. Her bait and float landed about 10 feet away (about as far as her rod could cast) and he helped her get settled into her chair.
Casting his line out as far as he could, Dan sat back in his chair and let the warm sun soak in. Within a minute or two, nibbles started to bob the float. After a few minutes he reeled his line in and sure enough, the worm was gone. “Sneaky little buggers, they got my worm!”
“Dad, should I check mine too?” Of course after Sam reeled in her rod, Dan found himself feeding another worm onto another empty hook. This went on for about 30 minutes, and after 5 or so worms each later, things started to quieten down.
“Uh oh.” thought Dan. “I hope that wasn’t the only action we are going to see.” He kept his skepticism to himself. He was glad that Sam seemed to be truly enjoying herself and really, that’s all that mattered.
Suddenly, Sam’s float went straight under the surface. “Sam ! You’ve got one! Pull up your rod, Quick!” Dan shouted.
“Okay!” Sam shouted back and yanked up all 2 feet of her plastic, toy fishing rod.
Never before seen has a fishing rod bend as much, as that little toy rod did. The tip of the rod almost bending down to Sam’s white-knuckled hands. The force of the rod jerked forward so hard that Sam was nearly pulled straight into the water. Dan shot out of his chair.
Suddenly, a beautiful shimmering trout shot 3 feet straight out of the water, and then splashed back down with the float and line in hot pursuit.
“Wow! You’ve got a big one Sam, reel it in! Reel it in!” Dan shouted gleefully.
“I’m trying to Dad, I’m trying!” Sam wailed back. Excited and scared all at the same time, she really was trying to reel in the line, but the fish was so big and so strong it kept pulling the line back out.
“Help Dad! Help!” was all that she could manage, so Dan dropped his rod and jumped over the slippery rocks to get to her side. Just as he grabbed the line in his hand, the rod went slack.
“Oh no! It got away!” Sam moaned. Dan scanned the water furiously to see if the float had resurfaced, but it hadn’t. He gave the line a little tug and at that very instant, the gorgeous trout swam straight between Sam’s feet, and then stuck between the rocks.
Just as he made sure the slack in the line was gone, Dan looked up to see Sam reach down with the fishing net and scoop up her bounty. As soon as the fish was fully in the net, it opened it’s mouth and (no word of a lie) it simply spit out the hook, not secured at all. Unreal.
Then, to make things even more exciting, Sam suddenly shouted “Dad! Your float went under too!” and so Dan rushed back over to his chair, grabbed his rod and proceeded to reel in a 6 inch little squaw fish. Weird, that old fisherman sure called it.
Dan and Sam started laughing hysterically as he pulled up the little fish. After getting the hook out of the squaw and making sure that it swam off once he put it back in the water, Dan looked over at Sam holding her fish in the net, and realized that she had just made history. Never before has a fish that size been seen in Wood Lake.
Dan couldn’t believe a fish like that could be caught with a toy rod. The knot in her line should broke, but somehow it held, as did the unhooked hook. There she was, beaming, holding up a 5lb Rainbow Trout.
After a brief photo op came the gory part. Dan dashed the fish on the head with a rock and cut off the head. Suddenly, 3 baby fish squirted out of it’s guts, the trout’s last glorious meal.
He wrapped the fish in a bag and they packed up their gear and headed back home. The whole ride home couldn’t stop laughing as Dan bellowed loudly, “Wow Sam! WOW!”
Once they got home, Dan showed Sam how to properly gut and clean the fish, and then he filleted it and cooked up with his signature mayo-garlic-soy sauce.
This was a fishing trip that Dan and Sam would remember their entire lives.