There is no doubt that the best outdoor season of all is upon us. Fall is here and we are ready. Wild geese form their spectacular formations above, while the morning dew glistens over the fields, and the fog rises off the lakes below. The deer and fish have started to put the feed bag on, and I like most of you have found my heaven.
A morning walk to our neighborhood pond finds a crane standing in the shallows feeding on minnows being stirred up from an attacking largemouth. A few more sips from my Rapala coffee mug prepare me for my first cast, as the light north wind chills me just enough to get my blood pumping. The wacky worm hits the water…and I feel it fall ever so slowly to the bottom. A twitch of the rod and a bass is felt picking the worm up as the line races off to the left. I set the hook hard and the bass heads straight to the surface. It leaps to the air and returns to the water with reckless abandon. The crane now spreads its wings, squawks in fear, and takes a low flight along the length of the pond. The morning silence has now been disturbed and a 19 inch largemouth has awaken this neighborhood from its slumber.
This was the start of my day…but I had no idea of what would lie ahead.
Catfish Fun!
I wrote that a few weeks earlier and I’ve just been too darn busy to attempt to finish the draft. My son Bryan and I spent the rest of that day fishing a different pond with the nephews. We had an afternoon full of fun and excitement. Two fishing rods flew from the bank into the water and remarkably we were able to recover both of them.
The first catfish of that day used a decoy to attempt to steal our hot dogs. While I was attending to my pole from a perceived pick up ( my nephew Tyler watching intently) I set the hook Bill Dance style (falling over backwards) with nothing at the end of the line but what the little boy shot at. We were surprised that I didn’t hook into one and stood for a second or two in disbelief. Just at that moment, Tyler’s pole took off into the water like it was shot from a cannon, and we watched as it sank to the bottom of the pond.
Tyler was visibly upset over the disappearance of his rod/reel combo, and I quickly grabbed my other rod with a single hook and cast across the path of Tyler’s line. Within a few seconds I had caught the line and we slowly reeled it toward us (fish was still on) while trying not to excite the fish at the other end. The rod tip showed itself and we dragged it in a bit until Tyler was able to get a hold of it. Now he was able to set the hook and we had a good catfish at the other end. A story we will tell for years to come, with no pictures of the fish, as it slipped out of Tyler’s hands before we were able to get a shot!
Sean was also in on the flying fishing poles, as his also hit the water three feet from shore, on a typical catfish bite. He was able to recover the rod by jumping in after it! No fish was on the end of his line, but at least he recovered the rod. We had a great day of fishing, caught a few fish, with many laughs to be told for years to come.
Johnny & Tyler
More to follow in tomorrows post unless I go fishing in the morning…
Thanks for visiting us at Cappy’s Pond and The Fishing Headquarters. Check out the videos on YouTube @ Cappy’s Pond. Remember you can’t catch any fish if your line isn’t in the water!