Category Archives: Fishing Ramblings – My Fishing Blog

Random thoughts and musings about fishing

Global Warming and Poor Fishing

I have heard claims that the early hurricanes and tropical storms this year are because of global warming. That has caused a lot more rain, and all our lakes are full. Seems I remember during our drought when all our lakes were low that the drought was cause by global warming, too.

In January, 2005 Linda and I went on a cruise in Antarctica. We met the ship in what is called “The Last City On Earth,” Ushuaia, Argentina, right on the tip of South America. While touring that city we noticed a hillside covered in grass and the tour guide told us it was their ski area. Since we were there in the middle of their summer we were not surprised it was not covered with snow, although most of the surrounding mountains were snow capped.

The tour guide explained that they were not getting as much snow as normal because of global warming and did not get to ski much, even in the winter. Then a couple of days later while on the ship in the Drake Passage it was snowing on us. One of the guides on the ship said snow was unusual there in the middle of summer, but because of global warming they got a lot more snow than they used to.

So, it is dryer and wetter here because of global warming. It snows more and less in South America because of global warming. That seems to be a great catch all to blame weather problems on.

I bet the reason I didn’t catch many fish in the Lanier tournament in May was due to global warming. From now on, if the fish don’t bite I have something to blame it on, global warming. I used to say it was too hot or too cold or too windy or too calm or too cloudy or too sunny when I could not catch bass. Now I can simplify things. No matter what is going on, I can blame not catching fish on global warming.

That should work for hunting, too. Not seeing deer today? Global warming. Doves not flying? Global warming. Doesn’t matter that other guys in the hunting club are killing deer and shooting doves on their fields, that is a great excuse.

Good luck fishing this weekend. Hope global warming doesn’t get you and ruin your trip!

How Much Fishing Is Enough?

I almost got enough fishing during the past two weeks a few years ago in early May. After fishing the two day Spalding County Sportsman Club tournament at Clark’s Hill April 23 and 24 I left for Center Hill Lake in Tennessee on Tuesday. I fished there four days in a row, and it rained all day each of them.

Although I caught a lot of spotted, smallmouth and largemouth bass and was in second place and had big fish in a tournament there on Friday, it was a two day tournament and I did not catch a keeper on Saturday. To add insult to my zero, my big fish the day before was beat three times on Saturday.

I left Center Hill at midnight Saturday and drove five hours to Lanier, arriving at the ramp in time to get a 30 minute nap before launching the boat. I decided the lack of sleep was my problem when I lost six bass early that morning, but then caught a limit just after noon. The fish that morning hit flukes and I broke my line on one, had two more hit and get off, and I just did not get a good hookset on three more.

After that tournament I drove home and got a little sleep, then got up at 4:30 Monday morning to drive to Oconee. I picked up a couple at the Ritz Carlton and took them fishing for a four hour tournament their business group was hosting. They placed 3rd in their group with the three keeper bass we caught weighing 6.25 pounds. One of them hit a Rat-L-Trap and the other two hit a spinnerbait.

It was fun that morning trying to help the couple learn to cast. Neither of them had ever been fishing. The woman caught a 12 inch bass on her first few casts, the first fish she had ever caught. I think she was thrilled and kept casting hard the rest of the morning.

In that stretch I fished 8 days out of 10 and was on 4 different lakes. I also drove just over 1100 miles in those ten days. I could not stand it when I got home last week so I went to my pond and fished on Tuesday and Wednesday, then went to Bartlett’s Ferry and fished Thursday.

Bass were biting good at Bartlett’s Ferry. I met Randy Duncan there to get information for a Georgia Outdoor News article and we caught about 15 bass in five hours. Most of them were small, but they were fun to catch. To round out the week I fished in my pond on Friday and Saturday.

I love being retired!

My love of fishing came from my mother and her mother. Some of my best memories are of fishing with mother and grandmother on ponds around the house. Mother’s Day always makes me think about those trips and how much they influenced my life. I wish I could thank them again for the time they spent with me and the ways they influenced me, but both are gone now.

May all mothers, fathers and children get to go fishing together any time they can, and make some memories that will last a lifetime. All too soon the chance to go fishing with each other will end.

Bird Watching On Land I Manage for Wildlife

There are two small ponds on my property in east Spalding County and I try to make them as wildlife friendly as possible. Both have wood duck nesting boxes and floating goose nest platforms on them. The ducks and geese seem to like them.

Last year a pair of geese raised a couple of goslings on one pond and one of them stayed after the others left. It still hangs around with a female mallard duck. They have been inseparable all year. I really thought the goose would take up with other geese when they came back to nest, but it has not. I call them the odd couple.

Geese checked out both ponds and a pair nested on the lower one about a month ago. About a week later a pair nested on the upper pond, too. A week ago the eggs hatched on the lower pond and I saw the pair of adult geese with five little yellow puffballs following them around.

The next day no geese were on the lower pond, but when I went to the upper pond the pair had moved up there with their five little ones. They had moved about 100 yards through the woods, swimming in the little creek and walking around brush jams and up the dam. For several days they moved back and forth between the ponds.

I saw them several days in a row, then one day there was only one gosling left. I guess a hawk, snake, weasel, raccoon, turtle or some other critter had a meal of four little geese. The pair still moves back and forth between the two ponds with just the one left. It has doubled in size in a week.

When they are on the upper pond it gets funny. The odd couple is there as is the pair nesting on the platform. When one of the pair with the little one gets near, or one of the odd couple approaches the nest, the male tries to chase them off while the female stays on the nest.

I never realized Canada geese could swim underwater until I watched one last week. The goose of the odd couple got too close to the nest and the male attacked him. He would dive under, swim about 15 feet them pop back up. That did not stop the attacking goose and I saw the one fleeing swim underwater three different times.

Also, the pair with the little one got too close to the edge of the water and my dog Rip took off after them. The gosling dove and swam out of sight under water half way across the pond. That is a good escape tactic but I did not know geese could do that.

It is fun watching the geese, especially the little one, try to get near enough to eat the fish food I throw out without getting too close. The little one will head toward me and the parents will be right behind it, making noises that I take to be saying “Be careful, don’t get too close!”

The eggs in the nest the one is still siting on should hatch soon. It takes about three weeks for the eggs to hatch. I am not sure they will hatch since there was one egg in that nest that was abandoned. I hope she is not sitting on that bad egg.

Baby birds of all kinds are hatching right now. I remember many times while I was growing up watching nest, counting the eggs and learning the different colors and numbers of eggs birds laid. All too often I would find a baby bird on the ground and try to feed it and keep it alive. Earthworms were easy to get and I fed them all they wanted, but all of the baby birds died within a day or so.

Some baby birds abandon the nest immediately and are able to move around. Ducks and geese can swim almost immediately after hatching. Last year wood ducks hatched on both ponds and soon got together. I would see an adult with 10 or 11 little ones behind it. I guess it was the baby-sitter.

I have read that some kinds of woodpecker chicks leave the nest immediately after hatching. The nest smells and attracts predators that would eat them, so they leave and hop out on branches or go to the ground where the mother keeps them fed.

Birds and they ways of nesting and raising young are amazing. The great variety of ways they nest, from hollow trees to small depressions on the ground to the familiar twig and stick nest in bushes and trees is fun to study. Some, like hummingbird nest, are unbelievable.

Watch for nesting birds. Enjoy them without disturbing them. They can entertain and amaze you.

Managing Your Land for Wildlife

I have 75 acres of land in east Spalding County that is my little piece of heaven on earth. It is mostly wooded with two small ponds and a two acre field, and I have seen deer, turkey, squirrels, geese, ducks, raccoons, possums, fox, coyotes, beaver, otters and muskrats there. The ponds have bass, bream, catfish and shiners in them.

When I bought the land in 1999 I knew little about managing it, so I contacted the Georgia Forestry Commission here. Through them I had a Forest Stewardship Plan written. It gives me guidelines on everything from productive timber practices to pond management.

To start the plan I had to fill out an application and list my priorities for the property. I chose wildlife, soil and water, timber, recreation and aesthetics, in that order, as my management goals for the property. The plan would be developed around those goals.

To set the plans, my property was visited by the Management Forester and District Stewardship Forester from the Georgia Forestry Commission, a wildlife biologist from the Department of Natural Resources, the District Conservationist from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and someone from the Soil and Water Management Service.

Along with topographic maps showing soil types, vegetation types and contours, I received written information about these subjects. These maps would help with tree and soil management, and instructions were given for avoiding problems like erosion around creeks. There was also information about endangered and threatened species that might be found there.

A section discusses both ponds in detail and suggests how to keep them in good shape. One is very old and there is not much that can be done for it since there are big trees on the dam and it could leak at any time. I did have the water tested in both and got liming and fertilization guidelines from the local County Extension Service.

The notebook prepared for me had several hundred pages of information, including practices to improve the land for wildlife. Sizes and types of food plots were suggested as were tips on controlled burning, thinning trees and planting fruit and nut trees for forage.

I have followed most of the guidelines and they seem to be working well, with one exception. I was supposed to do a controlled burn on about 1/3 of the property each year in a three year rotation. Controlled burns help wildlife as well as improve timber growth.

A little over a year ago, just before the burn ban went into effect, I had scheduled a burn for about 10 acres. The Forestry Commission technician arrived that morning and warned me the humidity was very low, but I insisted we go ahead and burn anyway. He unloaded his bulldozer and plowed a fire break, and we started the burn.

As warned, the fire got way too hot and most of the pines lost their needles in the next few weeks. But within days they has put out new needles and looked good. Unfortunately, during the winter I found pine beetle damage and had to clear-cut the area to stop them. I was going to end up with no trees anyway, so I might as well get some money for them.

After the timber company finished I waited until just before the burn ban went into effect the beginning of this month and burned off all the residue left. I waited as long as possible to let it dry as much as possible, and it worked. I guess fire and me just don’t get along. The fire burned way more than expected, moving across what looked like bare ground to me, and I had to call for help to stop it before it got into the woods.

Right now the place looks bad, but I will plan pines there and will have a new stand of trees growing soon. Again, the Georgia Forestry Commission people helped me with what I needed to do and even provided some grants for planting some kinds of pine trees.

As the weeds, grasses, briars and other plants grow in the cleared land, deer and other wildlife will find it a great place to live. I will add food plots in the cleared area so there will be plenty for them to eat as well as good cover. I expect to have an abundance of deer for the next few years.

If you have land and want to manage it wisely, contact the Georgia Forestry Commission. They can help you be a good conservationist, managing your resources and using them wisely.

How Did Missouri Wardens Find Missing Teen?

Found him! How Missouri DNR Mission Ready wardens helped find a missing teen

Published in Wardens in Action

By Joanne M. Haas/Bureau of Law Enforcement
from The Fishing Wire

The first thing Warden Supervisor Joe Jerich did when he found the shivering, wet missing 17-year-old canoeist in a remote area of Ozaukee County was think of what the teen’s worried mother needed.

“I handed him my phone and told him to call his mom,” Jerich said.

That was about 7:45 a.m. Thursday — about eight hours after a DNR Mission Ready conservation warden team responded to midnight calls to help a multi-agency effort find the boy who flipped his canoe in the swift waters of the Milwaukee River.

The calls roused Jerich from his West Bend home, and Wardens Ryan Propson in Appleton and Sean Neverman in Sheboygan County. Within minutes, Propson, Jerich, Neverman and DNR Pilot Michael Callahan were on their separate ways to join other local law enforcement agencies and fire departments in their search to find the missing boy.

They’re called Mission Ready warden teams – trained to answer calls for help at any hour and to stay with the mission until completed. The DNR Bureau of Law Enforcement has several of these specially trained teams ready to handle emergencies. In this week’s missing person case, the Tactical Flight Officer Team answered the call for assistance from the Grafton Fire Department in eastern Wisconsin.

Propson wasted no time in leaving his home and headed for Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, where the DNR has a plane equipped with a heat-imaging camera known as FLIR. Wardens and pilots have completed hours of training in how to use this camera from the skies to help find missing persons. He was joined by expert pilot Callahan, there to take command of the plane and get the duo in the air and to Ozaukee County — fast!

Jerich and Neverman also were in high gear, traveling from their homes in their warden trucks to the search command post in Ozaukee County.

The Mission Ready warden team added the DNR airplane, a warden boat and two trucks to the multi-agency search team involving the Ozaukee County Sheriff, Port Washington Fire Department, Grafton Fire Department and Mequon Fire Department. The mission? Find the kid.

By the time the wardens were on site, five hours had passed since his mother last heard from her son. That was 8 p.m. Wednesday, just as his cell phone battery was dying and after he had flipped the canoe. And to add to the urgency, the temperatures were on their way down below freezing.

“As soon as we got on site in Ozaukee County, we got more details about the GPS location of that last ping from the missing person’s cell phone,” Propson said. “That gave a start.”

Propson put his hours of training to work and manned the FLIR as pilot Callahan maneuvered the search flight route through the night sky. Jerich joined Neverman, who brought his flat-bottom boat, on land patrols while keeping in constant contact with other search teams and the DNR air team.

Jerich and Neverman drove toward the Milwaukee River with the thought an on-water search was in order. “But, it was very, very swift water,” Jerich said. “We had concerns swift water at night was not a safe situation.”

So, instead of potentially causing yet another flipped boat emergency for even more emergency workers to handle, Jerich and Neverman stayed on land and separated. Neverman took off to search all the area’s water access points in case the boy made it to shore elsewhere, and Jerich joined the ground search, staying in contact with the DNR air team above using the FLIR to detect any and all heat sources below. A human body is a heat source.

The wardens kept the land searches going until Propson and Callahan had to call it off around 3:45 a.m. Thursday.

“The camera was picking up images. But, you didn’t know immediately why it was showing hot. It could be an outdoor stove or a deer,” Propson said. “You had to differentiate what you were looking at. And that determined if we then directed the ground search teams to that spot.”

Propson said the mother of the missing person also knew he had not crossed a specific local bridge, which gave the air and land teams another landmark to plot search patterns. Then, the weather interfered with the FLIR.

“It started to snow and I couldn’t see any more,” Propson said. “So we made the decision to return to Oshkosh and come back at 6:05 Thursday morning and look with just with our eyeballs.”

Two hours later, Jerich was back on the scene to handle foot and land searches guided by directions from the DNR flight crew overhead, flying this morning in a different plane with a different strategy. Fly lower.

“The plane we had in the morning had more windows which made it easier for us to really look — and to continue to look,” Propson said. “We had to fly in very tight circles.”

Callahan said within 10 minutes of starting the search, Propson spotted an aluminum canoe aground on the west bank of the river. The canoe was located in a difficult to access stretch of the river. But, it did look like it fit the description of the missing canoe.

Propson and Callahan then directed Jerich how to drive to get to the general area, and then helped guide him on foot to the canoe through what was a difficult terrain — a flooded, mixed-forest area.

“The plane crew directed me as close as I could get with the four-wheel drive truck and said the canoe is so many hundred yards in on foot,” Jerich said.

Warden Ryan Propson texted success.But Jerich never made it to the canoe.

“In short order, I came upon the boy who was in his green tent,” Jerich said.

The teen had pitched his tent under a stand of very thick pine/juniper trees — a fact that gave Propson an aha moment. “”That explained why we couldn’t see it from the sky or with the camera,” Propson said. “The FLIR does not pick up heat through dense things like tree canopies. The tent will trap the heat inside but hold it under the pine trees.”

Propson was able to detect search personnel, animals and vehicles with the FLIR so the team knew the camera system had functioned properly.

Back on land, Jerich said he was face-to-face with one very cold kid.

“He had no dry clothes to change into after he had gone into the water,” Jerich said. “He spent the night in this tent — and it was cold.”

How cold? The Weather Channel at weather.com shows the overnight low hit 23 degrees at 1:05 a.m. in Grafton and Cedarburg. And the missing teen did not have dry clothes to change into after going into the water.

Still, Jerich said teen appeared to be OK. So Jerich gave him the phone and gentle directive to call his mother — now.

At that point, Jerich radioed his success to the air team of Propson and Callahan, who then directed the land emergency medical teams to the tent site to handle transporting the boy to a local medical facility for evaluation. Neverman, who was on his way to join the search, got the call to turn around because of the happy ending.

Jerich said while it is not a good idea to canoe in a river with such dangerous flooding conditions, the teen did make a good decision. “He stayed in his tent and waited for help.”

Up in the skies, it was a feeling of a job well-done and kudos to DNR Pilot Callahan for maneuvering a successful low pattern for Propson to spot the canoe and to guide Jerich to the boy.

“That was awesome to find him and know he was safe,” Propson said. “It was great.”

Jerich says this was multi-agency teamwork and cooperation at its finest, filled with many ready to help and to serve the public at split-second notice. The only thing that made it even better was finding the young man safe and OK in his tent. He was mighty cold, but he was safe.

And he got to call his mom.

Clarks Hill Fishing Memories

The weather guessers said the weather would be nice the end of last week so I headed to my place at Clark’s Hill Wednesday afternoon. I needed to check to make sure everything was ok because I was afraid pipes may have frozen but wanted to fish, too. And the guessers were right – Thursday and Friday were beautiful.

I lucked out – no pipes were busted and no limbs from the pine trees around my trailer had fallen in the ice storm. But the bass didn’t seen to know conditions were perfect. I got two bites and landed one bass on Thursday and never got a bite on Friday.

The water temperature ranged from 54 to 65 degrees and should have been ideal for the bass to be feeding. The water was muddy but that is not unusual. But I fished many of my favorite places and the bass just were not there.

Fishing and staying at my place at Clark’s Hill always brings back great but bittersweet memories. I fished around the cover where daddy, mama and I spent countless days pulling crappie out of the button bushes. And in the trailer are their favorite chairs, empty for many years now since they both died 14 years ago, but I can still see them sitting there and talking to me.

I fished around an island where my first dog, Merlin, got out one day and tried to dig a beaver out of a clay bank. It took weeks to get all the Georgia red clay out of her coat. And I fished the rocky bank where I used to tied the boat in the summer and throw sticks for here to retrieve, and she would even bring back rocks I threw if they were in less than a foot of water. I could never understand how she found the rock I threw among all the others, but she always found the right one.

It broke my heart when she got where she could not stand and I had to have her put down when she was 14 years old. Dogs never live long enough.

I fished the docks at the boat club where I spent thousands of hours skiing when I was younger. Now my old body won’t let me water ski. The last time I tried about a 20 years ago my muscles hurt so bad I could hardly move for a week.

And I fished the cove where I shot two deer from my boat over Christmas holidays one year. I always spent the two week school holiday there, fishing, building brush piles and hunting. I was often by myself for days in a row, just me and Merlin.

Fishing has got to get better over there soon, but the memories will always be perfect.

Being Quoted In Sports Illustrated

I got a nice surprise a few weeks ago. An email from my editor at Georgia Outdoor News said “ You’re famous – you were quoted in Sports Illustrated.”

I was sure it was a joke but when I searched on my name and the magazine title the following was in the issue that contained information about the Bassmasters Classic:

“Behind Bryant are 220,000 square feet of exhibition space filled to the gills with Ugly Stiks and Mr. Crappies, and an 18,000-seat arena that will host the nightly weigh-in for the 44th annual Bassmaster Classic, the self-described Super Bowl of Fishing—though to the 200,000 angling enthusiasts passing through here in cardboard hats in the shape of bass and weapons of bass destruction T‑shirts, the Classic is a vast improvement on the Super Bowl. Says Ronnie Garrison, veteran correspondent from Fishing-About.com, “They really should call the Super Bowl the Bassmaster Classic of Football.”

I called my editor since I assumed it was only in the on-line version but he said it was in the March 17, 2014 printed magazine. That was where he saw it.

I am not sure if the writer heard me say that while I was at the Classic as a media observer, or if he found it here. No matter, being quoted in that magazine is a once-in-a-lifetime thrill. Or maybe in many lifetimes. I never expected it. And he even got my website right!

Now,if I can just find a printed version or ten to buy.

Is There An Online Fishing Show?

Bringing The Fishing Show to You Online
from The Fishing Wire

If you’re in the outdoor industry, you’ve just about had it with trade and sport shows. From the first week in January through the end of February, it’s an almost constant cycle. Go to a show, set up your booth, “do” two to four days of endless meetings with potential customers then tearing the booth down, repacking and replenishing your once-again depleted inventory and hitting the road – again.

I know, the rest of you are really feeling for us, right? Weeks of seeing, trying and talking about the newest gear in the entire outdoor industry. Many of you are looking at the one or possibly two events you can find time to attend, wondering why you can’t see the latest-and-greatest when they’re announced.

Maybe you can- at least in fishing. There’s a new site up and running on the internet that’s been created specifically to bring a SportShow to you year-round, on demand. It’s called the http://vshow.on24.com/vshow/nasportshow?l=en#home> North American Sportshow , and the goal is simple: bring you the latest news and information on new products, along with the ability to buy them and get them shipped directly to your door.

It’s the brainchild of David Gray, one of those “idea” guys who’s not afraid to put his idea to the test. If you’re familiar with Ardent fishing rods, you’ve seen David’s work. He first told me about his idea at SHOT Show, promising to contact me when it the North American Sportshow was ready to go.

Having spent some time on it over the past few days, I’d say he’s got it coming together. Plenty of “name” companies, state tourism offices and even some media outlets are already in attendance, and he tells me things are moving along steadily.

The first thing you see when you attend is a quick screen test to make certain you have all the plug-ins you’ll need to best experience the show. The second, an uptempo introduction from outdoor communicator Josh Lantz that gives you the rundown on the show and it’s goals.

You can quickly decide what you want to see in the various booths- with no one standing in your way, bumping you with trolleys full of “free stuff” or beeping at you from their own motorized chair. All pluses to us.

From there, you’re in to one of several “areas”. In the Auditorium, for example, you’ll be able to see presentations on the latest-and-greatest products from exhibitors. The Exhibit Hall is exactly what it sounds like, a graphical representation of trade show booths -with a couple of exceptions: no crowds jostling you and the ability to easily navigate in any direction.

When you click on a “booth” you have several options, from watching their product info videos, to going to “learn more” and moving to the Show’s Resource Center where you can browse literature and collect your own digital equivalent of a bulging trade show literature bag.

Sorry, no pens, pencils, stickers, pins or candy. And now ripped plastic bags or “stuff” to clutter up your workspace. But you can enter for a variety of prizes- up to a completely equipped Ranger boat. You can also enter your contact information if you’re interested in learning more and want an exhibiting company to contact you.

Wandering the show floor, I realized there was another advantage to the virtual show- material could be updated and the information wasn’t going out-of-date. In fact, show specials could be managed on-the-fly. If I were a manufacturer, a tourism department, or even an enterprising retailer with enough volume to offer products online and fill orders with affordable shipping, I’d be considering the North American as one of the shows I added to my 2014 planning budget.

One advantage of the digital show is the ability to actually measure attendance and statistical information on your booth. It gives you the ability to tweak offerings, change-up specials and actually see what’s getting the attendees’ attention.

And the show isn’t going to run out of space. Utilizing ON24 Virtual Show as the backbone, the North American Sportshow is “scalable” in computer-speak; with more than 24,000 shows “served up”, ON24 has the ability to expand computer space and bandwidth to accommodate enough visitors to crowd the Las Vegas or Orlando convention venues.

It’s not a free show, but there’s a value in being able to regularly visit a site that’s designed to bring you the latest-and-greatest in the industry.

Nighttime Is the Right Time for Fishing This Time Of Year

Things That Go Bump While Fishing At Night

Nighttime is the right time for fishing this time of year, but things that go bump can be scary – or funny. Often they are scary when it happens but you can laugh when thinking back about them.

For many years I ran bank hooks, trotlines and jugs at Clarks Hill. One night while idling across Germany Creek at about 1:00 AM there was a little fog rising off the water and it was a little spooky. I was using a spotlight to find my way and suddenly something loomed up out of the water out in the middle of the lake.

It was only about 100 feet from the boat and I knew nothing was supposed to be there. I didn’t slam the gas wide open and spin the wheel the opposite direction like I first wanted to, at least until I got a good look at it.

The long, skinny thing lay low in the water but one end raised up and crooked, like a neck and head. It was at least 30 feet long. I was sure I had found the Clark’s Hill “Nessie.” After catching my breath and slowing my heart beat, I realized it was a log with a big branch on it. It had drifted out into the middle of the lake since the last time I had gone out to check hooks.

One night I made the mistake of going out and tying limb hooks after dark. There was an old willow snag hanging over the water and I eased up to it and grabbed a limb to tie the hook. Something seemed strange and I shined the light on one of the biggest wasp nests I had ever seen, hanging on the snag about a foot from my hand. Thank goodness wasps don’t fly at night!

Frog gigging always puts you in interesting situations. One time Bobby, Harold and I were in a pond a mile or so from my house looking for fat frogs. Bobby was paddling, Harold was in the front with the gig and I was in the middle of the boat holding spotlight.

We eased the front of the boat under a willow tree going after a huge bullfrog. I grabbed a limb to steady the boat and then looked at it. A snake was on the limb just inches from my hand. We backed out very quickly! I have often wondered why the snake didn’t drop off the limb. It would have landed on Harold’s back.

Looks like I would have learned about willow trees in the dark. The poor snake stayed there long enough for us to go home and get a .410 and send it to snaky heaven.

Pulling in trotlines and feeling something moving on it is always a thrill, but I got more than I bargained for one night. I felt a little tugging out near the middle and I thought it was a small catfish. As the drop line came out of the water I realized it was not a cat, but a snake that had eaten the minnow. I dropped it fast and waited an hour to come back, knowing the snake would have drowned by then.

When I pulled up the line ready to get rid of a dead snake I got another shock. There was a smaller snake, not on the hook, staying right with the dead one. I don’t know if it was a young one staying with mommy but, thanks to a paddle, it joined her at the bottom of the lake.

There is nothing quite as exciting as a snake, but one night while out gigging we went across a shallow sandbar and found a different thrill. The paddle dragging on the sand must have scared a bluegill that jumped out of the water and landed in my lap. I almost swapped place with it but managed to stay in the boat.

Bats can make things interesting, too. They don’t really bother me although I had heard tales all my life of them getting tangled in your hair and biting you. When one suddenly darts out of the dark inches from your face, it really makes you think hard about those old tales.

I have also set the hook many times when fishing a plastic worm in the dark when a bat swoops so close to my line it feels like a bass thumping it. That gets very frustrating.

Give night fishing a try this summer. You are almost guaranteed to get some kind of thrill, and you might even catch some fish.

In the Spring A Young Man’s Fancy Lightly Turns To Thoughts Of Fishing!

Spring Means Fishing

In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of … fishing! Not to mangle Alfred Lord Tennyson’s famous quote too much, but when I was a young man fishing definitely occupied most of my thoughts. In fact, it still does.

There is something almost magical about watching a cork bobbing on the surface of the water, anticipating the thrill when it disappears and you hook whatever finny critter fell for your bait. If you don’t believe in magic, just take some kids fishing and watch their faces.

Fishing can be different things to different folks. My mom loved fishing just for fishing’s sake. She could be happy sitting for hours hoping for a bite. My dad thought fishing was only worthwhile to put something in the frying pan. I take after my mom.

If you love to fish, have you ever tried to figure out why you like it? One time, when I was about 12 years old, I was fishing at one of my uncle’s ponds. He was not a fisherman but kept a stocked pond for friends and relatives. I was happily casting a Heddon Sonic, trying to hook a bass, when he walked over to me.

“Why do you like to fish?” Uncle J.D. asked. I responded that I liked to feel the fish pulling on my line. He pointed and said “tie your line to that Billy goat – he will pull harder than any fish you are going to hook.”

Since then I have often wondered why I like fishing and have asked many people. Most respond with something about the fight, the food, or the challenge of outsmarting a fish. Think about that one. You are trying to outsmart a fish, an animal with a very rudimentary brain that cannot think; it just reacts.

I never played sports and don’t like games, I am just not competitive in anything but fishing. That is strange, fishing is supposed to be a contemplative activity where you enjoy the quiet and calm of nature, and I love that, too. But I also love fishing bass tournaments, trying to catch more and bigger bass than others in the tournament.

One reason I think I am competitive in bass fishing is the fact you are not really competing with other people, you are competing with the fish. And, like I said, they can’t think! In a bass tournament it makes no difference what others do, if you catch more fish, you win. So the conflict is between you and the bass, trying to figure out what they are doing and how to make them bite your bait.

Sitting by a pond watching a cork is great and one of the best things about fishing, but blasting down a lake first thing in the morning in a bass boat is special, too. There is nothing else that feels like running 60 miles per hour on a calm lake. The boat almost feels like it is floating, not connected to anything on earth. I guess it is as close to flying as I will ever get.

Opposed to that feeling, one of my best memories is of my mother and me putting a trot line across a cove at Clark’s Hill, then building a fire on the bank and casting out chicken liver for bait with our rods and reels, waiting on a catfish to bite. I was in college at that time and we talked as adults, one of the first times I remember being treated as an adult by her.

Memories are one of the reasons many people fish. Fishing trips provide the best memories for many folks about their youth. If you went fishing with your parents, think back. Can you remember any of the trips and the special feeling you had? There is an old saying that God doesn’t count time spent fishing against you. Fishermen often live longer because they have an escape from the hassle of every day living, and learn to relax and enjoy life, as well as learning to accept what happens without going crazy.

When kids go fishing with parents they learn many things, and kids that fished growing up seem to be happier and stay out of trouble. But that is true of any activity that parents and kids enjoy together. Fishing just enables them to talk without too much distraction.

If you have a child, take them fishing and make some memories. If makes no difference how old they are!