Inktober 2021 #3 – Vessel – Free Spirit Meg

Vessel was an easy prompt that brought up a lot of memories with my dad. He had his own vessel called The Phish Phinder. We would go out on Lake Erie all the time and go fishing. We would have the usual family competition of who could catch the most fish. It was usually my mom or my son. They only won because my dad and I were the ones preparing the poles, baiting the hooks and teaching the techniques. 😜

One year, my son won “biggest fish”. My son was 6 years old using a 3 foot long Pixar Cars kiddie pole that we got at Walmart. My dad coached him through the entire process. The fish was fighting and it took over two minutes for my son to reel it in. That might not sound like a long time but when your fighting a fish, trying to prevent your line from snapping, it seems like forever! The tiny pole was bending nearly in half and we thought for sure it was going to snap but my dad supported it with his hand while my tiny 6 year old reeled as fast as he could. Finally, a sheepshead fish came to the surface and my dad scooped it up with a net. I can’t remember exactly how big it was but I would say somewhere between 15 – 20 inches. My son and my dad were so excited. It’s one of my favorite memories. I think this is one of the things I will miss the most that I did with my dad. …And his fish fry!