CAMP VICTORY, Baghdad, Iraq - “It’s hard trying to figure out what they want,” Sgt. Chris DePrater said, as he watched fish swim past his hook and bait in the shallow edge of the lake, not wanting to bite.
Using hot dogs, corn, bread, or whatever he can get, DePrater, a 29-year-old switching systems operator with the 13th Signal Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, spends his spare time throwing hooks and bait in a man-made lake on Camp Victory.
Since the beginning of March, DePrater has caught more than 30 fish in the lake. But he and his friends have only caught three different types.
“We’ve caught some carp, bass, and no one has been able to figure out what the third one is,” he said. “I also caught a turtle once. That was pretty weird.”
DePrater said he usually throws the fish back in the lake, but sometimes he will give them to the Kellogg-Brown and Root contractors so they can have a fish barbecue.
After he arrived in Baghdad, his wife sent him a cheap fishing pole so he could enjoy his hobby. While he was fishing, his reel wouldn’t wind back up, so it made it difficult to bring the fish in.
“I made an order to [a mail order fishing catalog] and got a new pole,” DePrater said with excitement.
DePrater has been in the military for 10 years, the last three with the First Team. Since he is a military brat, he has seen many lakes.
“My dad was in the Navy and we traveled around a lot,” he said.
DePrater once won the “Biggest Bass” prize at a local base fishing tournament in 1993. He wants to continue to enter competitions whenever he can. He even sends photos of the fish he catches to fishing magazines.
“We’re trying to get the [camp] mayor’s cell to sponsor a fishing tournament,” he said, hopefully. “Maybe MWR [Morale, Welfare and Recreation] will get one going.”
But most of all, DePrater likes to fish. When he goes back home to Valley View, Texas, where his parents live off of Ray Roberts Lake, that’s probably where you’ll find him: at a favorite fishing hole.
“It’s very relaxing to be able to get away,” DePrater said.