On a beautiful summer day many years ago, while we were staying at a lodge in northern Minnesota, my husband took the kids and me fishing. Earlier that day, we were busy throwing our lines over the side of the boat but it wasn’t enough to fish during the day. We also had to fish after dinner, because there was a dock close by and you have to use up as much bait as you can.
With the kids being the ages they were at the time, they had not mastered putting bait on or taking fish off the hook. I didn’t mind baiting the hook, but I rarely took a fish off a hook. Fish are slippery and poke you with their fins. Husband must have sensed how leery I was and took over those jobs.
I have a picture in my mind of Husband on the dock, walking back and forth, and weaving about our three children with bait in hand. He baited each one of their hooks, reminded them how to cast, and how to reel whatever they caught back in. He also reminded them to be sure to watch their hooks before they casted their line just to be sure no one was behind them. It’s not good to get the hook caught on anything or anybody.
As he danced around the dock, helping take fish off hooks and making sure the bait was on, he noticed that Katie wasn’t getting any bites. The bobber just stayed in one place.
“Katie, reel your line in. I wonder why you’re not getting any nibbles.” When we looked at the pole, Husband noticed that there wasn’t a hook at the end like there used to be.
”I wonder where your hook went,” Husband said to Katie. We didn’t see it laying around anywhere. Husband put a new hook on the line, got the worm situated and gave Katie the fishing pole. Katie casted and was back in business, catching more sunnies or crappies.
After about an hour of fun, we went back to where we were staying and settled in on the comfy sofa ready to watch a show. Husband got ready to settle in with the rest of us, and just as he sat on the sofa, he let out a loud scream. Husband was not one to scream, so we all looked his way with panicked looks on our faces. I wondered if we should call 911. Was he having a heart attack?
“I think I found Katie’s hook!” he told us, as we anxiously studied his face. Somehow, the hook had lodged itself on the seat of Husband’s pants without any of us witnessing the occurrence.
Mystery solved!
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses. ~Confucius
My Reality Show 
Oh, my goodness! Ouch. They aren’t the easiest thing to get out, either. Sounds like a fun time, minus getting hooked.
It’s a favorite memory of mine. Even though it was exhausting and painful for my husband, I think he loved every minute of all the chaos! Our lives are so different now. Hopefully we will be able to take the grandkids fishing soon. ❤
🙂
Oh! It’s no fun getting a fish hook stuck in your skin. I can imagine it was even more painful in such a sensitive area!
Your story brought back good memories for me. We had many similar vacations. Fishing with kids can be exhausting, but our kids all grew up to love it and still do it whenever they can.
I’m glad the story brought back some good memories! Yes, that was not a good place to get stuck with a hook. Ouch! Our kids don’t fish a lot these days, but our grandson enjoys it. ❤