The Oregon Kids - The Big Catch

In a small suburb in Oregon, there lived a little boy named Billy, who was nine, and his younger sister Autumn, who was six.1

Billy loved to fish. Dad would often take him fishing on the weekends. When the family would go camping, Billy and Dad would spend every morning fishing. They would always compare the fish they caught to see who had caught the biggest.2

Billy was very excited today because yesterday Dad had announced that the family was going camping for two weeks near a lake. Two weeks of fishing was all Billy could think about.3

Billy woke up very early that morning. He jumped out of bed and ran down stairs. Mom and Dad were not even up yet. Billy couldn't wait for them to get up. He ran down the basement stairs and found his fishing pole and tackle box. He nearly bumped into Dad running back up the stairs.4

"Woe, kid, slow down," Dad said catching Billy's shoulders. "We have to eat breakfast and finish packing before we leave."5

The drive seemed to take forever for Billy even though he played games with Autumn and Mom, or talked about past fishing stories with Dad.6

"Do you remember the time Mom caught a bird while fishing?" Billy asked Dad at one point in the trip.7

"Yes, that had to be the best catch ever!" Dad joked.8

Everyone laughed, remembering the time Mom had tried to cast as a bird flew over the water. The poor, unexpecting bird flew right into Mom's fishing line and got tangled in the line. Mom reeled in the bird from the sky and untangled it from the line. It was one big catch that they did not keep.9

When they arrived at the camp sight, Billy leaped out of the car. "Yeah!" he yelled.10

"Can I go fishing while you set up camp?" Billy asked Dad.11

"No, I need you to help me," Dad answered.12

Billy hurried to help unpack. Suddenly, there was a loud noise. Dad came running to the camper. Billy was inside and pans were scattered on the floor.13

"Billy, I know you're in a hurry to fish. Be patient and slow down." Dad instructed.14

"I'm sorry," Billy said.15

Finally camp was set up and they could go fishing.16

"Autumn, would you like to learn to fish?" Dad asked. Autumn had never been fishing.17

"Uh-huh!" Autumn replied with a smile.18

"Does she have to come?" Billy whined.19

"Yes, and I want you to teach her how. You need a lesson in patience." Dad ordered.20

Billy was upset. "She's going to ruin the fun," Billy thought to himself.21

When they arrived at the lake, Dad had Billy put a bobber on Autumn's line and a worm on her hook.22

"Ow!" Billy yelled. He was in too big a hurry putting on Autumn's worm and had cut himself on the hook. He became even more angry that Autumn had come. "If she wasn't, here I'd be fishing and wouldn't have cut myself," Billy thought to himself.23

Dad noticed how upset Billy was, so he went over to him and knelt down to talk with him. "Billy, you're being very selfish and impatient. You'll get plenty of time to fish. Slow down and show your sister how to fish, so she can have fun like you have. Okay?"24

"Okay, " Billy responded still feeling a little angry.25

Billy showed Autumn how to cast. Autumn tried, but instead of her line going forward into the lake, it went backwards and got stuck in a tree behind them. She tried to pull it down, but in wouldn't come. Billy had to climb the tree to get it down. Normally Billy liked to climb trees, but this was delaying his fishing and only made him upset.26

Billy again explained to Autumn how to cast and demonstrated with his pole. Autumn tried again and hit the water.27

"Now watch the bobber, Autumn. If it goes under the water, lightly jerk you're pole and then reel in the fish," Billy instructed.28

Finally, Billy could fish.29

He waited carefully watching his bobber. Waiting, watching, waiting, watching, waiting, watching, waiting, watching. Then it happened! Under went the bobber. Billy lightly jerked his pole. "I've got one!" he yelled. He reeled furiously. His pole was bent over. "He's fighting hard!" Billy yelled. The fish jumped out of the water. Billy could see the fish was large. Billy reeled fast with excitement and got the fish to shore.30

"That's a nice size," Dad said.31

Billy was no longer angry. He was excited!32

Just then Autumn's bobber went under water. Billy saw it go.33

"Jerk your pole, Autumn!" Billy yelled.34

She did and began to reel, but she couldn't feel anything at the end of the line and her pole was not bent like Billy's had been. When she got the end of the line to shore, there wasn't a fish at the end, only an empty hook. The fish had eaten the worm.35

"That's okay, Autumn. Maybe you'll get him next time," Dad comforted.36

As the day went on, Billy caught three more fish and Dad two, but Autumn had not caught any. So far, Billy's first fish was the biggest.37

The sun began to go down and Billy knew they'd be quitting soon. Autumn still had not caught any fish.38

"I got another one!" Billy yelled. "I think he's bigger than my first!" He then looked over at Autumn. She looked very sad.39

"Hey, Autumn, do you want to reel him in?" Billy asked.40

Autumn put down her pole and smiled.41

Billy handed Autumn his pole. Autumn could feel the fish pulling on the other end. The pole was bent and the line was going out.42

"Reel!" Billy yelled.43

Autumn began to reel. She could still feel the fish pulling on the line. She never felt such excitement. The fish jumped.44

"Wow!" Autumn yelled. It looked like a huge fish.45

She reeled it to shore and Billy grabbed it. It was huge. He compared it to his first fish. It was bigger. Autumn had reeled in the biggest catch of the day.46

"That was very nice of you, Billy." Dad complimented.47

Autumn gave Billy a big hug. Now Billy was glad Autumn had come along. He felt good about being nice to his sister.48