The Fishing Trip

• Riley Alexander Dash, Grade 5, Toolangi Primary School
• Short Story
• 2015

Excellence Award in the 'Read Write Repeat 2015' competition

It was a cold, wintery day with the chilly south wind blowing up the creek. The water was very cold. I hadn’t had a touch yet. It was getting dark. My little brother Harvey was a couple kilometres behind me. I called him on my radio. Chrrrk! “Come in Harvey, come in.” I waited 5 seconds, then chrrrk! “Yes. I have got ya big bro! What’s up? Got a big one?”
Chrrrk! “No. Actually haven’t had any touches! And I have tried all of my lures.” Then Harvey changed the subject. Chrrrk! “Well, do you know what time it is?” chrrrk “It’s 5:00 we better get going." I replied.
Back at the house, Harvey and I were sorting out our lures when Dad came into our room with great news. “Hey boys, you know that raffle we entered last week? Well we have won a brand new Quintrex 25HP tinny.” We both jumped up with excitement and danced around our room. Soon we went to bed.
I couldn’t sleep with the excitement of the boat rolling around in my head. I woke up finding Harvey shoving me, saying, “Wake up! Wake up! You don’t want to miss this surprise that bad brought home this morning.” I jumped up out of my bed and got dressed. Harvey and I ran outside, anxious to see our new boat. We saw Dad with a big black blanket over a very strange shape. Then he pulled it off. A shiny, brand new boat lay before us. We ran straight for it, nudging each other on the way. We reached the boat and I yelled, “It looks better up close!”
The next day, Dad, Harvey and I packed our rods and lures in our new boat. I asked dad, “Where are we going fishing today?” “Wait and see,” said Dad. So we set off. It was a big drive wherever we were going, but the drive was worth it. We arrived at this place called Lake Eildon. It was a wonderful place. There were so many people at the lake with boats and jet skis. Dad backed the boat into the water slowly. He popped his head out the car window and said, “Guide me in.” “Right a bit. Straight back now!” I yelled. Dad pumped the fuel line and pulled the pull cord.
BRRUUM! The motor started first pull. Harvey and I jumped into the boat.
Soon we pulled up to a big, old, dead tree in the lake. I tied a rope to it then we dropped our lines in. All of a sudden, I had a ripper hit. I slowly wound my line in. BANG! The fish hit a second time with extreme force. I kept the tension on the line for a long time. 10 minutes later, I had the fish in the boat. It was a BIG Rainbow Trout. It weighed 3 lb.
“This is a day to remember,” said Dad.