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.