“I caught one!” I yell to Colin and Nicky. I put my hand in the Trout's mouth then wipe it on my shirt to rid of the fish slime on my hand. The slimy ooze makes me cringe. Ugh. I will only touch this fish if I have to. With my hand in the trout's mouth, I use it to wrench the hook out of its mouth. I use my other hand to put the trout back into my net to keep it from falling. The fish starts to flop. Uh-oh. What if he flops out? Careful not to drop the trout with my net, I quickly sift through my bag to look for a stringer. My hand grasps for the cold metal chain. I feel a cold sensation as I touch metal. I then hold the fish by the midsection and then help the chain through the mouth and out the bottom jaw. Colin appears over my shoulder.

“Let's go to the bridge.” He says. Hmmm… Sounds like a plan! I gather my tackle with the green, slimy, fish in my left hand and my rod in my right hand and trudge along the bank of the Meramec River. Around the bend a large, wooden bridge appears. Beneath it, a large school of trout congregate and feed. This is a large group! It would be nice to catch one. I will fish on the bridge then. Above the water, a shirtless man stands alone on the bridge like a watchdog.  

“Look at him,” says Nicky. I trudge up the slick wooden surface of the bridge. The shirtless man stands at the edge of the bridge waiting for a bite. He has not been catching any fish. I lean over the bridge railing and trip the bail of my reel. I watch the bait get attacked on all sides by one fish. My bright orange bait is being tossed around in the water like a ragdoll. I set the hook but pull the my bait out of its mouth. It comes flying out the water and almost comes off. Aww… Come on!

I send the bait in once more and he eats it again. This time when I set the hook the hook gets cemented in his mouth. A green and pink blur shoots out of the water and distorts my reflection on the wavy mirror. Colin and Nicky  run to the bank by where the fish is fighting in the water. One of them will have to net the fish.

“I do not want to net it because my shoes will get dirty.” says Colin defiantly.

“Ok, I’ll do it.” laughs Nicky. Nicky walks into the water and nets the fish. She hands me the net with the rainbow trout in it.

Man, this is awkward. That shirtless man watched me the whole time. He hasn't caught a fish all day it seems like. And two of my friends did something I should have done. Thoughts of the shirtless man giving me dirty looks or even throwing me off the bridge and into the water swirl through my mind.

“Lets go to lunch”, says Colin.

Thankful for the interruption, I agree. Once again, I pick up my gear and set off for lunch. As I walk I think about how I had learned something. Friends are valuable because they teach you and help you even if it will get your feet wet (some will!). I also feel like I have been cursed; I will never be able to erase that image from my mind. I think that since I have written about this experience, I will have forgotten about this memory. I hope that I will forget about part of this memory soon, but I probably will not. For now, I will think of this memory as a lesson about friendship.