I never went fishing in my life, not until May 2011.
But for people who reside in the U.S. state of Minnesota, fishing is a
favourite recreation. In a state where more than 10,000 lakes and the mighty
Mississippi flow, it is only natural that people buy hooks and baits and drive
to a lake or river to fish.
We have been living in Minnesota for nearly three
years now, so my husband and I thought it was perhaps time we too tried our
luck in fishing. Our acquaintances also fuelled our interest by saying that few
things are as delicious as pan-fried freshly caught fish.
The first thing we needed was a fishing license, so we
got one from the local Walmart store for $18. It is illegal to fish without a
license! We purchased only one license, because I was not sure how much I would
really enjoy fishing. I thought that I should perhaps begin with helping my
husband as he angled.
On one sunny afternoon of summer we went to the
Mississippi River with our brand new fishing rod, white worms, and a big box full
of hooks, blades, bobbers, artificial baits, etc. We cast our fishing rod into
the Mississippi and began to wait. We waited and waited but our bait did not
lure a single fish. We cast our rod again and again but there was still no
luck.
We could feel our hearts sink as we saw two men standing
just ten feet away from us, catching foot-long northern pikes one after
another. They were not even keeping the fish; they were freeing them from hooks
and releasing them into the water. What made the day even worse was our new
fishing line getting caught in a riverside bush. The fishing line ripped. Along
with the fishing line we lost a bobber, hook and bait that were attached to it.
Our fishing tools danced on the water for a few minutes before taking a deep
dive into the Mississippi. It was a near-traumatic experience!
Weeks went by and we still we did not forget about our
first fishing experience. The worms eventually died in the plastic box; we
could not even use them! More than a month after our first experience, a friend
suggested that we go fishing again, this time to a lake on the campus of St.
John's University in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
Since our worms were dead and discarded by then, we
stopped at a gas station on our way to the lake to buy leeches. I had never seen
a leech before. I looked into the box of leeches and my stomach churned. We
went to the lake and voila, we ended up catching about ten sunfish and one bass
in just less than two hours. I was dancing on the pier and yelling, “Yes! We have
finally caught some fish! Yes!” But cleaning the fish was not as much fun as
catching them though. The clock already struck 11 p.m. when we were finally done
scaling and gutting our catch. We ate some snacks and went to sleep.
The next morning I fried the sunfish and bass deshi style. I did not forget to fry
onions and green chillies to eat with the fish. That afternoon my husband and I
had a small feast over pan-fried bass, sunfish, and steaming basmati... oh, they tasted heavenly.
By Wara Karim
The Daily Star
July 21, 2011
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