Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Why Fish?

One of the more anomalous characteristics of the sport is that you are transfixed to a spot, for at least the time it takes to cast and retrieve. During that time, your eyes are taking in the line as it cuts through the water, the tree limbs and rocks it has to navigate, the sunlight causing you to squint, the grass and trees around you, the breeze above. It is a meditative experience. You cannot be more with nature – until you catch that fish. Then you are face to face with the primordial need for food and the silent capture of another creature, so very foreign to yourself. Yes, throw it back, free it. That rush of achievement has been bred into us through the millennia.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Sunsets


There are times in fishing where one does things that make no sense. Like casting into still waters, with the reflection of fall leaves, just to see your line slowly cut the surface. You know there are no fish to be found there. You are doing it just to be transfixed to the beauty of it, your eyes and thoughts only on what is before you.

At this time of year, I usually fish just before sunset for an hour or so. I now have a set routine for where to cast, based on fish I have caught before. Always the same lure, just different color.

Tonight the water was still, with a mix of clouds and light. I was delighted to find the end of my crescent had a 12” bass; I could retire for the night with a feeling of accomplishment. I had the lure, I had the location, I had the cast. I still had it all. My Halloween treat.

On the way back, the sun had set, but the reflections were still there. For no other reason than it was a beautiful sight, I cast. I knew there would be no fish where I was casting, but it was such an inspiring sight to see the water flat, with my line just barely cutting through it like a wire through cheese.

Something meditative about flat water, with the fall leaves mirrored. Just for the sheer joy of it, I made a half-dozen casts, just to make me stand and watch and absorb the beauty.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Big Fish

October 14, 2006

It’s not that I am bored with my lake after five years, but after catching four fish one evening, I needed some humility, and possibly, something different was in order. Maybe even different species. Someone had mentioned a pond not far from my lake as a place for kids to fish sunfish and even catfish, maybe HUGE catfish. I decided it was time to find it and fish it.

Pond it was, like the duck ponds that estates usually have. It was a toy lake; so while I was trolling for catfish from a pocketful of cheese, I decided to run a bass lab, throwing booyahs, crankbaits, poppers, and of course, my go-to lizard.

About one-third was inaccessible to bank fishing. I had low expectations for bass, much higher for catfish.

Then it happened. I felt my lure snag, the feeling of catching a wet sock. The slight wobble in my rod said fish. I was barely able to land it, the rod bent completely in half. A 20”, 5 ½ pound bass. I know because I had been to Wal-mart that afternoon and decided on getting (another?) scale and tape measure combined. I am so happy I did. I am sure the pictures will not do it justice, but the light was good, so the website might suffer with this monster.

There are revelations in fishing. Such an extraordinary fish. I let a week go by, just letting that vision simmer in my mind. Almost called an end to my fishing for the season. There are times when fishing seems a religious experience.