One Life-Changing Fish

In life, almost everyone has a hobby they enjoy or found their niche that they are content with doing for hours. Me, on the other hand, I have never found that one special thing that I love doing or something that I’m truly passionate about. One thing that I have noticed over the years though, is that when it comes to fishing as a hobby or passion, you either love every aspect of it and could be out there for hours, or you hate it. I can easily say that I have always been a member of the group of people who had absolutely no interest in fishing whatsoever.

This was the case for 18 years, until I met my boyfriend Jake. I’ve never met anyone with such an obsession about fishing. This man could go out on the water from the crack of dawn until the sun set, and even then he could still fish through the night. As for me, I was completely content staying back in the comfort of his lake house. This had always been the case until one afternoon in late July when he had forced me to go fishing. Would this be the day that I, Emily Rodas, finally learned to enjoy fishing and find a hobby?

On that day, a contradictory mix of dreadful emotions and excitement flooded my body, like a small boat slowly filling with water and sinking. Part of the eagerness to go out on the boat stemmed from the fact that in all our months together, he had never once asked me to go fishing with him. The day I had been waiting for was finally upon us, even though a large portion of me still had little to no interest in catching a fish. My whole entire life I had always hated the idea of sitting and waiting all day, just for a fish to be reeled in, thrown back into the water, and then do it all over again on a continuous loop. The thought of it alone puts me to sleep. Despite my previous feelings, I was willing to put my preconceived notions aside and give my first day of fishing a chance.

Forty-five short minutes later, we had arrived at the marina on Lake Hopatcong, with the sun reflecting off the calm water and the beautiful mountains in the distance. At that moment I knew that it was going to be a perfect day, fish or no fish. Jake quickly pushed the boat in the water and drove to his secret spot as he went over the “Rookie's Guide to Fishing,” as he called it. In that short time period from the dock to the cove I had learned just about everything I needed to know in order to catch a bass (too bad the information went in one ear and out the other).

Hours went by without any fish being caught and I was becoming bored and tired of all the waiting. I was ready to throw in the towel when all of a sudden I felt a tug that nearly pulled me in the water. I reeled as fast as I could until the fish was out of the water and flopping on the floor of the boat. Without hesitation, I gripped my fingers in its mouth and held it up for a picture to document my first ever catch. The adrenaline and excitement went rushing through my body and all I could think about was how I wanted to catch more. As the day went on more and more fish began biting and by the end of the night we had caught a total of 9 fish! What started out as a slow, tiresome day on the boat, turned into a life-changing experience all because of that first fish that I caught. I had finally found a hobby I enjoyed and changed my outlook on fishing. Now I tag along and go fishing with my boyfriend almost every time he goes and even catch more than him sometimes!