Every year my family heads up to Algonquin Park for a few days of camping. We try to stay on Mew Lake and we try to get a camp site on the water. In the summer of 2020, we were camping on the water again. On the last morning of our camping trip my dad and I woke up early and let my mom and brother sleep in.
I asked my dad if we could go on a quick canoe trip to see if we could go for a canoe paddle and try fishing. We got in the canoe and my dad paddled around the lake. It was very early, and the sun was just coming up. I was using my fishing rod and suddenly there was a strong pull on the fishing line. I told my dad to stop paddling so that I could try and catch the fish.
I reeled in the line and pulled up and down. The fish was putting up a good fight. All of a sudden, the fish jumped out of the water, its wet, grey, stubborn body flopping persistently on the water’s surface. I tried to pull back, but the fish was too strong and broke the fishing line.
My dad and I started laughing, our laughter carrying across the still, quiet lake in the early hours of the summer morning. It was then that we realized that we were the only people up at that time in the campground. We decided that we should be quiet as we canoed back to our campsite. We still laugh about the fish that got away when we go camping in the summer!
by Cadence Fisher – Grade 4 – North Cavan Public School