The most exciting part about fishing is that you never know what you’re reeling in until the defining moment when your catch breaks the water.
Is it a bass? Is it catfish? Maybe a turtle? Could it be an old tire? Or a garbage bag? Perhaps a sunken log?
If you’ve fished some of the places I have, like Washington D.C.’s tidal basin, the possibility of a bloated dead body may even cross your mind.
The mystery of what you may pull up from the depths is what makes fishing so magical. Even when the fish aren’t biting, the possibility of potentially hooking so many possibilities hidden under the water is what makes fishing so magical.
I imagine it’s more terrifying than magical if you’re expecting a fish and instead wind up with your hands just a few feet away from an agitated alligator with a hook in its mouth though. This dad was checking some noodles with a youngster in the back and got the surprise of a lifetime.
“I think we got a garfish dude!”
“Be careful…”
“Oh My God! That is a big-ass gator buddy! That is a big-ass gator!”
That kid on the back of the kayak may never go fishing again after this experience.
