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Written & Photographed by Chris Holloman
| Camera: Canon 5D Mark IV | Lens: Canon 70-200mm f2.8
A young fisher who engineered a masterpiece... this is his story.
A wooden stick, blue cotton string and a fish hook. With a childlike exploration into engineering, a boy had created his first fishing rod.
Walking along the waterfront, I observed a dad and his son cracking open mussels to use as bait. While dad meticulously loaded the small guage hook, the youngster opened his extra shells… Clearly there was some optimism at play in anticipation of the first casting of the fishing ‘rod’.
With everything aligned, it was GO time. Hook ready? Check! Rod ready? Check!
As the bait submerged without a sound, the improvised rod & reel had a stealthy quality about it. The boy’s toes were as close to the edge as he dared, extending his arm as far as he could reach.
He looked like a young puppeteer bringing a handcrafted marionette to life.
With a few excited tugs that hauled with it the hope of a big catch…
alas, the bait was gone…
and so the empty hook was reset by dad.
He went again. Determined. His hook doing the same underwater dance.
but this time the tug had purpose.
A fish had taken the bait!
Elated, dad watched his boy pull his catch to the wooden dock.
It never mattered how big the fish was. It was the success story that both of them set out to experience together.
I’m glad I was there.
In a happy ending for both father and son, the fish also found its way back into the water, but not before a quick photo with his new human friends.
“Until we meet again, Young Fisher!” thought the fish.