My fishing expedition with the nephew on Saturday was anything but calm, as you may have read in my last blog. But there’s another story from the day worth telling. (Well, there are several more actually, but I want to have some time to spend with the kids!)

For whatever reason, my nephew Blake has set a goal to catch a carp during his three-day weekend at the farm. Yes, I explained that a carp is a roughfish, and yes, I explained what roughfish are, but he still wanted to catch one.

Well, I’ve caught a carp or two in my life and, though the fight was fun, I didn’t appreciate having to take them off my hook. Nope, this was one fishing expedition where my rods and reels stayed in the car. It was Grandpa’s turn to take the boy fishing!

They didn’t need to go far. In fact, they loaded up the old Dodge Saturday night and drove out to the back pasture, where the Ocheyedan Creek winds along our property line on its way from Lake Ocheda to Lake Bella. It’s a carp haven.

Curiosity eventually got the best of me, so I grabbed my camera and headed out back on the four-wheeler to watch. As they reeled in a few bullheads, I sat on the four-wheeler, daydreaming about being on a real lake, where the water is crystal clear and the fish can be seen swimming around my fish hook.

A holler from Dad shook me from my trance.

"Julie, I got one (meaning a carp)! Get the camera." (photo above)

"It’s in my hand."

"Come over here and help!"

"What am I supposed to do? Blake, get the net and help your Grandpa!" (photo below)

(I wasn’t about to crawl through two layers of barbed wire to get to where they were standing!)

The next minute or so was pure chaos, and I was glad I wasn’t embroiled in it! A wide-eyed Blake had grabbed the net, his excited little brother was told to stand back behind Grandpa (easier said than done!) and Grandpa (my dad) held the line as the carp fought fiercely in the water. I had the best job of the night – standing back and taking the pictures!

What you won’t see is a picture of the carp, however. After two or three attempts by Blake to get it in the net, the megafish yanked his way free from what is now an unrecognizable fish hook.

Grandpa was disappointed and I think Blake was stunned. I should have asked him if he still wanted to catch a carp, but I’m pretty sure I know his answer. He’s going to keep trying for the elusive roughfish, and I’m going to spend the rest of my weekend doing something other than fishing!