The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 7 - Chapter 366

Chapter 366:

First Time Fishing

“Is this good?”

“Yeah, just put the bait on the hook and you’re ready. Go ahead and toss it into the river somewhere.”

I baited my hook while my father looked on. Just toss it into the river somewhere… I imagined myself casting the line over and over. Okay, I think I’ve got this.

“Yah! Um…huh?”

My hook fell much closer to me than I’d wanted it to…but it would have to do. I’d just wait and see if any fish bit it there. It was my first time fishing, so of course I was bad at it. Too bad it wasn’t going as well as I’d thought it would, though.

“If you flick your wrist more, your line will sink further out into the river.”

“My wrist? Okay, I’ll try that next time.” I watched my dad cast his line, and sure enough, his flick of the wrist made it soar farther.

“Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be a good fisher,” he said.

I nodded and looked at my line. Apparently I was supposed to feel the fish tugging at it, but…nothing was happening yet.

A big river ran between Hatahi and Hataka villages, and my father said it had some very tasty fish. The more I heard him rave about them, the more I wanted to have a taste, so we decided to go fishing…but how long was this going to take? I looked at my father, who didn’t look particularly impatient. I guess it’s good form to stare mindlessly into the distance.

“Hm? Ivy, is something tugging on your line?”

“Huh?!”

He was right. I could feel a little pressure on my pole. Did that mean I had a bite, even though I was barely feeling any resistance? I turned the reel in surprise, bringing the line in and coiling it round and round on the gear attached to my wooden fishing pole.

“Steady…steady… Take your time so it doesn’t get away.”

Take my time? Am I winding the line in too fast? Steady…steady… I felt a firm tug on the line, and I peered into the river.

“Ooh, I actually got one!”

There was a fish on my line, desperately swimming with all its might. Flustered at the sight, I yanked my pole up into the air.

“No, not yet!”

“Huh?!”

Splash!

Hm?

“Agggh, it got away.”

“It got away?”

I looked at the end of my line, and I could see that the hook had no fish on it. No way…but it was there a second ago!

“Arrrgh… Fishing’s hard.”

“I’d say the key is to be patient while waiting and reeling them in.”

Okay, next time for sure! I put some more bait on my hook and tossed my line into the river. Huh? Now it went in a completely different spot than before. And I flicked my wrist just like Dad did… What did I do wrong? I looked where my hook had hit the water, and it seemed to be in an even worse location than before. Well…the river’s all connected anyway, so it should be fine. Okay, now we wait.

“…I believe you when you say patience is important, but I’m getting really antsy,” I said. It was hard sitting still and waiting.

Splash, splash.

I looked toward the sound of the lapping waters and saw my dad lifting a fish out of the river.

“Wow, what a big one!”

“It’s actually on the small side.”

“Really? But it’s the size of both my hands.”

“I think it’s a little smaller than that, Ivy.” He put the fish in a net which he then placed in the water so we could keep the fish alive while we looked it over. “Keep at it, Ivy.”

“Yeaaah… It’s too hard.”

And it had sounded so easy when he explained the process to me. You know, when I had to catch a snake with just my hands and a net, that was also really hard. Sitting still for so long made me want to move, and I felt like I was wasting my time.

“Maybe patience just isn’t one of your virtues, Ivy.”

He might be right. Sitting still made me feel like I was missing out on something. I kept thinking about all the things I could be doing instead.

“I think you’re right.”

“Well, you’ll just need to be mindful of that and practice waiting. At least try to catch one fish.”

“Practice waiting, huh…? Okay, I’m catching at least one fish!”

Which was easier said than done. My line wasn’t budging. Maybe the fish ate the bait and left? Should I take the line out and see if the bait’s still on it? But what if they try to eat it while I’m reeling it in? No, wait, they wouldn’t do that. Is my hook in the wrong part of the river? That would mean I should definitely move it, huh? Errrgh, what should I do?

“If they’re not biting, you can always move your line.”

“Aha, I thought so!”

Okay, I’ll move my line. I’ll just reel it in and check whether the bait’s still there.

“Is the bait still there?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Then maybe you just had it in a bad spot. You’ll catch a lot more fish where there are rocks.”

“Really? How about over there?”

There was a formation of boulders a bit away. When I pointed at it, my father nodded and said, “That should be good. Ah, I got a bite!”

I looked in the direction of his happy voice to see him reeling in his second fish.

He’s so good at this… Okay, this time I’m getting one!

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

I flicked my wrist over and over, imagining my line flying where I wanted it to go. I gripped my pole, willing the line to land where I wanted it to this time, and then I heard Sora’s voice. I looked over to see it was bouncing toward my feet.

“Good morning. You sure slept late.”

Tired from the journey, my creatures had crashed hard after their lunch. I looked over at the tree in the distance and saw Ciel, Flame, and Sol asleep in a cuddle pile. We’d held them back quite a bit during winter and spring until the festival was over, so now that we were finally letting them play to their hearts’ content, they were exhausted.

“Puuu?”

“Hm? Oh, this is a fishing rod. You put bait on the hook, toss it into the river, and fish eat it.”

“Pu! Pu, puuu.” Sora playfully jiggled and bounced onto my head in understanding.

“Agh! You wanna be on my head today?”

The weight on my head made me wobble a little. Sora wasn’t heavy, but the extra weight did slightly throw me off.

“Pu! Pu, puuu.”

“Oh, I can’t say no to you.”

Well, Sora should be fine up there while I’m waiting. Okay, I’m gonna toss my hook all the way over to those rocks! Hm? Huh? Sora’s getting in the way… No, wait…I think it’s helping? It’s stopping me from moving my head…only my wrist…

Shoooot!

“Whoa…I did a good job?” I was a little dazed when I saw that my line really had gone exactly where I wanted it to. I’d been preoccupied with making sure Sora didn’t fall off my head, so the sensation was just a little different from before. Could it be…that not being able to move my head was good? I had only moved my wrist, after all.

“Puuu?”

“Sora, I think you helped! Thanks.”

Next time, I’ll be careful to keep my head still while I cast.

“Hey, that was a good cast! Did you get the hang of it?”

“Well… A little, I guess?”

“Okay. Well, once you’ve got the basics down, it gets easier and easier.”

I nodded in reply and sat down on a nearby boulder to wait for a bite. Sora was wiggling softly atop my head. Was it asleep? Sensing that it was, I brought my hand up to my head. I slowly petted Sora, and sure enough, it was sleeping.

“You still tired? Sleep well, okay?”

Ahh…now I’m sleepy. All this sitting still…is making my eyelids… But this sure does feel good. The walking made me sweaty, but the breeze by the water was so nice. Makes the sunlight just about perfect.

I began to drift off…

“Puuu!”

“Hm? Sora? Huh?! Augh!”

Sora’s loud cry snapped me awake. As I fumbled to sit up, I noticed that something was yanking on my fishing pole.

“Thanks, Sora.”

Okay…this one’s pulling much harder than the other one, but I won’t let it win. I slowly reeled it in. Steady…steady…

“I did it, Sora! I caught a fish! I caught a fish!”

“Pu! Pu! Pu! Puuu!”

The next thing I knew, Sora was bouncing happily around me. I smiled and thanked it.

Okay, now I take the fish off my hook and put it in a net. Where’s my net…?

“Here.”

I took the net from my father. “Thanks, Dad.”

“For a first catch, that’s a real beauty.”

The fish was bigger than both my hands. It was the only one I caught on my first fishing trip, but I had so much fun. My father caught six whole fish. He really was good at it.