Fishing Trip

A co-worker was just showing me pictures from his fishing trip yesterday. He had a different kind of luck than I had on what I refer to as my "last fishing trip ever". My parents were living on the Lake of the Ozarks. One weekend, Terri and I met my brother and sister-in-law Lloyd and Cindy Wilson at my parents house for some rest and relaxation.

My parents home had a nice boat dock that was also a good fishing platform. Sunday afternoon, Lloyd and I were relaxing on the boat dock. While our plans were not to fish, we both picked up a pole and threw in a line just to pass the time. Fishing was not very good, and I became bored on the dock and started to work my way around the shoreline.

A discussion caught my attention, and I looked back towards the boat dock. A uniformed individual was stepping out of his boat and onto the dock. Ah, shucks. He must be a game warden. They sometimes dock their boat at the entrance of a cove and use binoculars to spot fishermen they want to license check. Since this was not planned as a fishing trip, neither Lloyd or I had a license. Lloyd was busted, but I still had a chance. Away I went, up the hill to the street.

Adrenaline was pumping, and the 8 foot rock wall was only a minor obstacle to my escape. About the time I disappeared over the wall, the game warden asks Lloyd if he knew that other guy as he points over his shoulder. Lloyd sees that my escape is complete, and replies "What guy?". The game warden is not new to the job, and immediately knows that Lloyd knows "what guy", so the pursuit has begun.

I worked my way up to street level and crossing to the front of my parents house, through the front door and into safety. As I peer out a window facing back to the lake, I see the warden is not easily deterred. He has moved from the dock to the shoreline, and is knocking on the door of the neighbor's house. Whether the neighbors were aware of the situation I do not know, but they did not give me up to the warden and he eventually lost interest and left.

While I escaped, Lloyd did not. He paid a fine of $75, but not as high as would have been assessed if we had actually caught fish. The stringers and live basket were all empty, so in a way, poor fishing luck was good luck that day.

That was my last fishing experience, and will likely stay that way. I have enjoyed fishing as a sport, although it quickly bores me. Since I eat very few fish species, its just not worth the cost of a license, or potential fine. I'm done.