No fish and no photos. Normally that would mean that either a) something went wrong with the boat, or b) something went wrong with the weather, but not in this case.

We headed out to Roosevelt Lake (central Arizona) in the late afternoon, hoping to catch a few crappie or early bass. We'd heard the water was way up and the fish in the shallows were starting to bite. Well, the news about the water being way up was right. The beaches were completely under water, as were trees at the end of the lake, and the boat ramps seemed awfully short compared to last summer. I was told the lake has never been this full, but I'm not sure that's accurate. In any case, after years of severe drought, some lakes drying up and others at extreme lows, it was exciting to see the water up high.

We launched the boat with excitement, anticipating the day's catch. The weather was perfect, there were very few people around and the water was clear and beautiful. We stayed till sunset and didn't catch anything. Off and on we'd get a few nibbles, but nothing strong enough to even get my heart beating fast. But that didn't bother us. The day was so beautiful that we decided to stay out on the boat after dark.

Never having done that before, now I regret all the times we hurried off the lake at dusk. With a new moon, the stars were brilliant. We laid back on the boat, watching the stars and listening to the fish (which we still couldn't seem to catch) jump all around us. The boat rocked me and my step-daughter gently to sleep while my husband watched the poles (just in case our luck changed).

It was such a relaxing, peaceful day that I even forgot to take any pictures. When we returned to the dock, I told my husband, "This has been a wonderful fishing trip!"

"It really has!" he replied.

Only my step-daughter seemed to remember that we didn't actually catch any fish. :)