We had heard about this local lake but had never been there. The previous weekend we ventured down to take a look around and to see if it was worth fishing. It didn’t take long to realize that fishing from the shore was all but impossible. It required a boat. No motors are allowed which is rare these days.
We made plans and loaded up the Jon boat with the trolling motor in preparation. The lake looked ideal for Crappie so we selected the appropriate tackle and headed that way.
We were fishing for about an hour and catching lots of little bass but couldn’t locate the Crappie. I decided to head over to the other side to see if it was any better.
Remember that cheap Chinese telescopic rod I mentioned in a previous post? That’s what she was using when she cast a Crappie jig up to the edge of a reed bed. Twitch, twitch…BAM! That little rod bent almost double and the drag started screaming. I reeled in my rig in record time and manned the trolling motor. No words were necessary to comprehend that she needed help.
I was chasing that fish with the boat as she was trying to gain control. We went to deeper water, then reversed course and headed towards shore. It went left, then right. Finally she got it close enough to see the flash and that’s when we realized it was a decent bass.
She managed to get it boat side and reached down and grabbed its lip and hauled it aboard. We were absolutely stunned. After the obligatory pictures with such a fine specimen, I asked her what she wanted to do with it. She smiled and placed the fish back in the water and held the tail until it was ready. I heard her say “Thank You!” as it glided back to the deep.
We sat and stared at one another for quite awhile…all smiles and wonderment. She couldn’t believe she caught it and I couldn’t believe the rod didn’t break! I was so proud of her.
No words were necessary and we headed back to the ramp. Loaded the boat and went home. What a spectacular day.
Velox Seeker 