📸 Photo

‘Yossi, have a go,’ he urged, and went back to his cobbling.

I swung the baited hook over my head and cast the line into the river. I hadn’t even had the time to roll in the line when it went taut and straight. I had a large fish on the line; I could feel how hard it was pulling.

Take it easy, pal, I thought, you’re not going anywhere.

I gently drew the fish toward me. From time to time I let out a little slack and then drew it in again. After a few minutes the fish tired and was easier to pull in. It was a catfish that weighed about ten pounds.

Karl was stooped over the fire and turned around to look at me.

‘Oh, ho,’ he called out, ‘what a beaut! You’re really something, pescador valiente [gallant fisherman].’

‘Don’t get so excited,’ I boasted. ‘I just started out with the small fry, now I’ll go catch a real fish.’

I removed the hook from the fish’s mouth and baited it with the remaining half of the minnow. Marcus went down to the riverbank with me to watch me fish.

The line was thick, but too short, only about thirty yards long. I tied one end to a tree branch. Again I swung the baited hook over my head, cast it into the water, and waited. The line was taut in my hand, and I could feel the steady tug of the