What Not to Do on a Fishing Trip

Last night, while attempting to use a scrapbooking tool I knew nothing about, I jammed the razor part of the cutter into my finger. I suspected fishing would be a bad idea but had delayed going for two weeks. Yesterday my daughter and I located a lot of worms before the accident and I was determined to go. I asked both of my children if they wanted to go fishing with me. Hannah said yes while Owen said no. I had to stop to get us something to eat for breakfast.

Mistake #1

If it is simply your four year old and you, do not take an opened canned soda down a fishing trail. If your four year old is anything like mine she expects her parents to carry everything. I had three fishing poles, a large container of worms, two sodas, her crackers that I dropped and spilled, my purse, my camera, my phone, my soda and breakfast, etc. About halfway down the trail she grew tired and refused to walk in the mud. I then had to drop everything involved and go back and get her. This happened eight times.

Mistake #2

This should be a no brainer but wear reasonable shoes. I wore horrible shoes that have left me with three quite painful blisters on my toes (so much for open toed sandals for church tomorrow). If it has rained recently, it is more important than ever that your shoes are good ones. My shoes got stuck in the mud at least seven times and caused me to trip a couple of times. By the time I began the long walk back to the car several hours later, I walked it barefoot.

Mistake #3

If you have a bad cut on your finger it is not a good idea to go fishing. The finger in question is my second finger on my right hand. After so much reeling, it broke open and began gushing bleeding again.

Mistake #4

Very pale skinned people should always use sunscreen even when you don't think you need it. My back looks as red as a strawberry.

Mistake #5

Dr. Pepper baths are a bad idea. Hannah shook mine and opened it to see what would happen. What happened was we were all sticky for the rest of the day.

Mistake #6

Do not forget your tackle box. All three fishing poles were tangled and I had to make do with what I had while fishing. I spent several minutes trying to untangle them before Hannah screamed for an hour until her dad came to pick her up. I caught a lot less fish because I couldn't cast as far out as I would have if my poles were set up correctly.

Mistake #7

Somehow I managed to hook my sweater. It is one I wear often and I cannot remove the hook from it. I suspect it will take a hole to fix the problem.

This is how I spent my Saturday two weeks after the desire to return to fishing struck me again. I will be certain it will be a different situation before I return.