A 'Fishy' Story

While the Minstrel was visiting last week, he laid down a challenge:  write a fishing story!  We had to try to include as many of the important fishing rules as possible.  A school-wide competition is underway, we the best fishing story winning a fishing rod!

The winning story from Room 6 came from Jasmine - check out it out!

So there I was. Staring anxiously down at the choppy sea water. This was gonna be the big one.  I remembered how today started off.  “Quick! Get the sinker! Did you put the flare and beaker in the boat? Oh! I forgot to put the salt in the ice!” my dad screeched as he was frantically running round the house. As you can tell, my dad isn’t organised. It runs in the family. But if there’s one thing my dad is great at, it’s fishing.

 

A common thing for dad and I to do is to go and catch some big ones, but today was different. Today was the day of our huge hangi. Dad wanted to impress everyone by bringing in a monster snapper to show off his fishing skills. When we were in the car, dad went over all the rules. “Firstly, we must wear a life jacket. There ain’t nothing unmanly about wearin’ one. Secondly, always measure the fish, because a small fish doesn’t impress. Thirdly, pick up the fish with a wet towel and gently place it in salted ice to keep it fresh. We don’t want no rotten fish at the hangi!” Dad went on and on about the rules. He liked talking. I guess that must run in the family as well. We rolled on around a corner that said ‘Marine Reserve.’  “Now Jasmine, you must never ever fish at a marine reserve, because those fish are special and need protecting,” dad told me. Finally, the car had made its stop. “Rightyho.” Dad scanned the sea water.  It was a beautiful picture of blue scenery. “Let’s put 'Sea Beauty' in the water.” Dad and I named our boat 'Sea Beauty', because it was our pride and Joy. “Let’s go catch the big one!”

So that’s how I got here. I had been patiently waiting for a fish to come and nibble on my bait, and that’s when I got the tug. “Dad!” I cried. “Dad I think I got one!” This was so exciting. The tug got harder and harder until I couldn’t bare it any longer. “That’s it Jazzy! Pull it in!”  Dad begged. I desperately yanked, and pulled, and tugged. My arms ached and my legs hurt. My head was swimming like the fish in the water below me. I was imagining how happy everyone would be, seeing the monster that I caught and that gave me a huge tank of power. I reeled and reeled with all my might. Dad was screaming with joy as I pulled up a huge snapper! I was so shocked at what I caught, that I forgot what to do. Dad raced to get the ruler. I nervously measured up my snapper. ‘Oh no!’ Dad cried miserably. ‘It’s too big!’ My heart sank. The biggest fish ever and I couldn’t take it home. My dad looked even more devastated then I did. I looked at the fish.  Even the fish looked sad. “Come on dad." I stood up and walked over to him. “Let’s put it back in the water. After all, it might have babies, and we can catch them another time!” Dad slowly nodded his head. We placed it gently back in the water. The fish happily swam in a few circles, then looked up at me. It looked as if it were saying thank you. I nodded, and the dark blue water swallowed up the fish.

On the car ride home, my dad took a left turn to go to the supermarket. A few minutes later, he came out with a massive snapper in his hands. He cheekily looked at me and winked. “Don’t tell anyone!” he chuckled.