The most amazing fishing trip EVER!

When I was a little girl, my parents taught me many valuable lessons when we were in the vicinity of water.

They taught me how to swim and made it possible for me to be a competitive swimmer for much of my pre-teen and teen years. As they attended hundreds of swim meets, they taught me how important it is for parents to just be there for their kids. They celebrated me after every race, regardless of how good -- or bad -- the race had gone.

But of more relevance to this post is that they taught me how to fish and to enjoy the act of fishing. Somewhere in my mom's photo albums are buried  photos of me proudly holding pint-size bass, catfish and a perch or two, smiling the biggest smiles a girl can make.

I've spent countless hours with my dad in the pristine silence of a fishing boat or on the shore of one lake or another. Over the years, these hours have brought me a piece of my dad that I don't think I would have had otherwise. I've gotten to know him, to understand so much more about him, than I think I would have otherwise. Whether we're chatting or just staring in silence at the ripples on the water, when we're fishing, we completely accept each other. It's some form of pure happiness, if you ask me.

Anyway, every year dad heads up to Birch Island Resort in Canada, where he's been going fishing on a chain of freshwater lakes with friends or family for the past 20 years. The resort's motto is "Everyone deserves a little island time!", which if you heard in any other context would conjure up images of piña coladas and Jamaican drums, rather than some of the best fishing in North America.

This year, I was the lucky one to be invited along. Lucas and I flew to the States. He spent some terrific quality time with his Grandma, who spoiled him rotten. Tim, Uncle Joe, dad and I piled into the car and drove the 14-hour drive north and across the border before parking the car on the edge of one of the most beautiful, peaceful places I have ever been.

Here you see my brother and my uncle "fishing" with their guide, Phil. Notice there are no fish to be seen! :)

Here I am with our guide, Davey, and my contest-champion walleye. It was the biggest walleye any of us caught the entire week... too big too keep, so Davey had to spend 20 minutes trying to coax it back into the water.

Dad and Phil with one of Dad's catches.

Phil and I with one of Phil's catches that he let me reel in (what can I say... every fisherman has a slow day once in a while). I have to mention here that Phil was such a great, down-to-earth person. He shared many funny stories with me about his camping trips in Mexico. I was sad to hear that this will probably be his last year as a guide. When I asked him if he'd ever lived or worked anywhere else, he looked at me with a wise gleam in his eye and said "Look around you. Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?"

We were amazingly lucky with the weather -- sunshine and heat. Not the best fishing weather, they say, but we did ok... You can see the water is like glass.

Davey and I and yet another champion fish (although this one just won me the bets for the day).

The best fishing buddy in the world!

Two more of the best fishing buddies in the world. We had a terrific time.

So, one morning just before lunch, Dad was reeling in a walleye. He looked over the side of the boat as it came near and said "What the heck is that?!". It was a northern chomping on his walleye. Here you can see the bite marks around its belly if you look closely.

The area in which we were fishing looks, in many ways, like the Swedish archipelago. We met pelicans!!!

And a bunch of other birds. They met up every day in the hopes of getting the scraps left over from our shore lunches.

Davey making up the shore lunch. I will go back to Birch Island someday, even if it's just to get the shore lunches!

Uncle Joe roughing it while waiting for lunch.

The birds dive in after we've had our fill.

Dad and Phil preparing the fish.

The early morning view from outside our room.

Tim, Uncle Joe and dad waiting for lunch.

Let me end this post with a great big thank-you to my dad for an amazing trip and memories that will last a lifetime!