My father has always loved fishing. Every summer weekend, instead of going to a bar with his bachelor friends, he would head back to his favorite lake. I always begged to go with him to back him up if he caught a big fish, but he said no. I could not bear it any more, but one day I came up with the plan. Seven o’clock that Saturday morning found me already awake. I found my father’s old fishing rod, a pair of binoculars, and took some bait from the refrigerator. To avert my mother’s suspicion, I told her I was going to a friend’s house, and I headed to the lake.
The lake was huge, and at first I just stared in awe at the sun on the water. I walked down the edge and, a bit awkward at first, began to fish. From my base at the side of the water on a barren beach, I could see an older bald man with a bare head, fishing on the other side of the lake. I looked through my binoculars, and saw that it was father! He could not see me. All day I fished, and watched my father through the binoculars. I was surprised, because he was quite an average fisherman. He seemed to pay a little attention to the fish, and spent a lot of time staring at beautiful things around him.
That day, my first time fishing, I managed to catch three big fish, enough for a banquet or just a batch of my mother’s award winning fried fish. My mother loved my father bringing home fish. My family wasn’t bankrupt, but my mother did love a good bargain. Fishing was popular in our area, and there was no ban on catching a large number of fish. Legislation to protect fishermen was always on the local ballot. That day, I didn’t see my father catching anything. He seemed to enjoy himself, but I think his fascination with nature was a barrier to his catching anything.
In the afternoon, I headed home early. I ran home and told my story to my mother and asked her to cook up some of her famous fried fish. Just then the fish was ready, we heard our dog’s barks and my father’s car, with a bang, pull into the driveway. When he saw the fish on the table he was shocked, but very proud. He promised that now, every week, I could go with him to the lake.