One Day Mini-Vacation Offers Glimpse of Future?
I was super-fortunate to recently share the day with my
longest-tenured Michigan friend and fishing buddy. “D” was a couple of years ahead of me when I
arrived in Michigan for grad school and had actually moved on to other endeavors by the time I got here, but his
outdoor/fishing connections to my remaining contemporaries got us together. We were primary fishing partners for many
years. Our kids bracket each other and we’ve
navigated the local school system together.
We’re so compatible in the boat and afield that we’re still together*,
and on this particular day, we made hay from his new digs; a retirement home on
a lake with his Lund on a lift in the backyard.
As the day’s plans gelled, I had actually been a little bit
nervous. Our session was jammed into a
typically busy week, between a couple of shifts at C’s, and we were confronted
with pretty strong and wet cold-front conditions. My tackle prep was lacking, my tackle
selection was limited, and I wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence as I drove
north. I felt so out of synch that I was
actually hung up on what to wear**,
for gosh’ sake.
But D and his wife” J” are gracious hosts, and after a quick
tour of the new property (I don’t remember
how many beds or baths, but I do recall 5 garage stalls and a boat with lift on
each side of the dock!), the tackle was loaded*** and we were plying the
weed line just off-shore for bass and pike.
There was still a pretty brisk wind from the northwest, but conditions
were drying out, warming a bit (to a high still in the 50s), and clearing. Conditions were very fishable, but I still
expected a tough bite.
We were on a very highly pressured, over-developed, public
access lake. But with the weather, the
date, and with salmon staging at various Great Lakes ports and some college
football on TV, there was nobody else bass fishing! There were a few pan-fishers encountered throughout
the day, but the bass and pike were ours for the taking, and without the usual distraction
and bother of water-skiers, jet skis and such.
The one blessing of a Michigan Winter is the promise of Fall; and this
day turned out to be a beautiful start to the season.
We approached our bass fishing as a team; and when D
selected to crank the deep weed-line from the front of the boat, I sought a
presentation to complement his from the back and maybe find larger, “kicker”
bass. So as he cranked the edge, I
plumbed the depths with jigs, worms, swim-baits and slow-rolled
spinner-baits. In the first couple of
hours, I got touched as couple of times, but the bites were half-hearted and I
didn’t hook up. D caught several
smallish bass at first, but when he caught a couple of solid “keeper” bass
between 15 and 17 inches, as well as a fat, 28-inch pike on and just off the
edge, I started to think about other presentations. When he continued the
catching, I had to switch; and I started fan-casting over the weeds. What was probably a nice pike snipped of my
blue ClatterRap almost immediately, but that first “real” bite provided some
info; and soon I was in a rhythm of long casts over the weeds with a lipless
KVD Red Eye Shad. I found the correct
cadence for the day, and I started to catch some fish, too. We continued until late-lunch time, having
contacted several groups of fish and with a virtual tournament catch of four
legal bass weighing about 10 pounds, total, so far. We’d each lost bigger fish that would have
helped our total, but all in all, with the action from smaller bass and bonus
pike considered, the day’s fishing (and
conditions) so far had exceeded my expectations.
After a quick and easy lunch (brats!), D and I were out and back on another weed line. D continued with his Rapala DT10 (natural bluegill pattern), but after a
couple more small bass, I switched to a crank bait classic. My selected Bomber Model A (Larry Nixon pro crawdad pattern), when presented properly (slowly and
just ticking the deep weed wedge,) did pretty well for the rest of the day,
catching several keepers and allowing us to “cull up” to over 13 hypothetical
pounds for our five bass “limit.”
For the day, D had out-fished me; but I’d caught some
contributing bass and ten or so others.
He’d caught at least a dozen and a half bass as well as five or six
pike. We’d patiently ground out a nice
catch under what had turned out to be a very pleasant and comfortable day. We’d re-connected and enjoyed each other’s
company. I’d certainly enjoyed his food,
hospitality and access to his boat. Nice
day, eh?
 |
| Just so I can have a picture - this day's hot setups. |
But as satisfying as the fishing turned out to be, this
isn’t about the fishing. “A” had arrived
during the afternoon’s session for a visit and a shared dinner, and as we
relaxed, recounted and rehydrated, we further realized the beauty and advantage
of lakeside living. A and I have similar
aspirations for ourselves, probably back in New England. We probably don’t care so much about the
house, but the location, quality of the fishery, and the ease of access to the
water will be important to us. My dream
includes Numenon docked on a lift, ready
to go at a moment’s notice. D’s been living this dream for the last few months,
and he’s averaging about 6 days a week with some time on the water. He’s caught some nice fish, can avoid crowds
or take advantage of windows of opportunity, and generally seems pretty content
with this set-up.
Before dinner, we all took a tour of the lake on D’s new (obligatory?) tritoon boat. That was pleasant enough, but when D punched
the throttle to return to the dock, A’s spontaneous giggles touched me. They were the uncontrolled giggles of an
innocent child, a familiar laughter that I had not heard from her in quite a
while, and somehow I knew that there was probably a pontoon boat in our
future. And I’m okay with that idea; it
will give us a chance to share our enjoyment of our situation; and it provides
the basis for a more complete picture of what might be. Does this help explain (perhaps and just in part), why I continue at C’s? Each shift might just be another bite off the
elephant, but maybe I’m incrementally working toward something truly
worthwhile.
After this One Day Vacation, I returned for a full Sunday
shift at C’s. Despite the seasonal insanity
of our salmon-delusional customers, I had another really fine day. Things are making a little more sense. Much like D and I ground out a
more-than-respectable catch, A and I are probably grinding out a
more-than-respectable future.
Thank you, D. Thank
you, A.
*Although I have to be clear, it’s been a couple of years
since we’ve actually fished together.
Work and family schedules, as well as his passion for hunting in the
fall can make joint trips difficult to arrange.
However, this hiatus probably made this trip all the more meaningful to
me.
**Here I am referring to the choice of appropriate
outer-wear for the day’s conditions. My StormR Typhoon jacket took care of all
these concerns.
***Dave is a hellova C’s customer and has good taste in
tackle! His selections will help me
benchmark certain rods and reels for future clients.
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