A couple of hours later, Jack O'Neill thought even Teal'c must have realized how great an idea it had been to come. One of Ashwan's minions had arrived at the Prometheus almost as soon as the two men had disembarked, and had driven them to this lake, high in the mountains.
It reminded Jack a lot of Tahoe, deep blue and just asking for a rod and line. To his delight, he had found that the fishing tackle was similar enough to what he had on Earth that he needed no instruction. The minion had led them to what he called a boat, but that Jack would call a yacht. Thirty feet long with a double deck, it had built in everything, and controls simple enough to learn in a few minutes.
As a concession, Jack had let Teal'c drive the boat, and now they were half a mile out from shore, with lines in the water and cold beer at hand. He looked over at Teal'c who was sitting straight up, a deathgrip on his fishing rod. "T, the clue here is to relax. It's a beautiful day on Tagrea. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there isn't a snakehead in sight. The fish will come, believe me."
With the minute tightening of his brow indicating a frown, Teal'c looked over. "Tarish Amun stated that the fish in this lake fight, O'Neill. I do not wish to be taken unaware."
"Teal'c, big guy, you've seen the pictures at my house of me with a fish, haven't you?" At the Jaffa's nod, Jack continued, "The biggest one was maybe thirty, thirty-five pounds. You go over 300. You don't have to worry about them taking you unaware. Now just sit back and enjoy the day."
Teal'c leaned back in his seat, still looking like a coiled spring ready to explode. Jack rolled his eyes and turned back to his own rod. Deciding to teach by example, he kept a practiced light grip with one hand, while holding a beer with the other.
Relaxed almost to the point of somnolence, Jack nevertheless became immediately alert when he felt the light tug of a nibble. Casually, he placed both hands on the rod, letting the line communicate the fish's actions. With a sense borne of a thousand fishing trips, he gave a hard jerk at just the right moment and was rewarded with the immediate pull of the fish, well and truly hooked.
"Gotcha!" Jack pulled back on the rod to get a sense of his adversary. He grinned at the answering tug. It had the feel of a good-sized trout. "Now, this is what I'm talking about!"
Teal'c sat up, watching with interest, and Jack had a sudden realization that if he was unable to land this fish, he would lose standing in his friend's eyes. With his pride at stake, he began expertly reeling his catch in. The fish was surprisingly strong, and Jack found he had to play it, giving it a chance to run to tire it out.
Teal'c immediately picked up on the fact that Jack was letting line out. "O'Neill, why do you not pull the fish in?"
"I don't know what the test is on this line, T. If you just try to muscle it in, half the time the line breaks, and the fish gets away. If you let it run like this, it tires itself, and you can get it in. Watch, I'm going to reel it in now."
It was easier said than done, and as Jack set to the work of pulling the fish in, he found himself surprised at the continuing fight in the fish. He had decided that any fish this strong deserved catch and release to pass its genes along. Then, thirty feet out, the fish breached the surface.
The whoop died in his throat. The thing looked like a damn minnow. Jack just knew Teal'c had an eyebrow up. Frowning, he started seriously reeling. He'd gotten it another ten feet closer when it leapt again, clearing the surface.
Jack almost dropped the rod in shock, when at the top of its leap, another fish, this one the size of a trout, broke the surface and snatched the minnow in its jaws. "Whoa! Did you see that?"
"I did, O'Neill. Do you now have the second fish on your line?"
Jack gave an experimental tug, and the fish took off, ripping line off of his reel. "Damn, I do! Geez."
He concentrated on 'feeling' the fish. Despite its greater size, he judged it was not much stronger than the minnow thing that he had caught first. Expertly reeling and pulling, he worked to get the fish to the boat. Just when he was ready to ask Teal'c to bring the net, the big Jaffa gave a small satisfied 'ah.'
Jack looked over and grinned. His friend had hooked his own fish. "Way to go, Teal'c!"
With half an eye on his friend, Jack grabbed the net, and leaning over the side of the boat, used his line to guide the fish in. Even out of the water, the fish struggled. Jack pulled it into the boat and got his first good look.
It wasn't far different from a trout, except for the huge mouth with rows of dagger-like teeth. He realized it was those teeth, designed to prevent prey from escaping, that had spelled the fish's doom. Once the smaller fish had been swallowed, the fish's own physiology worked against it spitting it back out again.
Jack looked up at a small laugh. Teal'c actually looked as if he was enjoying himself. "How's it going, T?"
"I have caught a second fish like yours."
"Like the little one or the big one?"
"First the small one, and now I have a larger one, just as you did."
Jack's eyebrows went up. His catch wasn't a fluke? "Cool!"
Watching as his friend reeled his catch in, Jack smiled. "T, give a hard smooth pull, see if it will jump."
With a glance over, Teal'c did as he was told, and sure enough, thirty feet out, the fish broke the surface twisting in the air as it fought to escape. Jack nodded, "Now, give it a little line, and then do it again."
As he followed the instruction, Teal'c asked, "O'Neill, do I not risk the fish escaping if I do not pull it in as quickly as possible?"
"All of life is a risk, my friā¦" Jack stopped, jaw dropping in awe, as the fish on the end of the line leapt clear of the water, and was followed by another even larger fish.
Consternated, Teal'c asked urgently, "O'Neill, what do I do now?"
Jack stood there stunned for a moment, then shook himself. "Do you have the third one?"
"I believe so."
"Oh, man! Reel it in!"
