A dark and rainy afternoon....

It was a dark and rainy afternoon (sound familiar??) ...



Once again, I ventured out to my favorite lake to try to fool some
small-brained animal called fish into the boat. During this wonderful Summer
of cool weather and great times, I've managed to catch a few fish almost
every time out. Every now and then I'll be on the water on a bright, sunny,
and clear day. Those are called "blue-bird" days and they are great for
golf, but rotten for fishing. No wonder I like rainy days up here!



Anyhow, on this particular rainy afternoon, I started working my favorite
shoreline. I was throwing all of the lures that have worked before, to no
avail. On the shore, there stood a lone fisherman, casting his lure into the
water. I watched for 45 minutes or so, and then saw that he had a big fish
on. I called out to see if he needed a net or pliers. "No," said he " I'm
fine." I questioned him." what did you catch it on?" "Yellow spinner bait"
was the answer. For those unfamiliar with that type of fishing lure, it
looks a lot like a big safety pin with a skirt on one side and a hook on the
other. For some strange reason, both Bass and Northern Pike (and many other
fish) like them.



I drifted by, outside of his casting distance, to give him the room he
needed. Sure enough, ten or fifteen minutes later, he called out again and
had yet another good sized northern pike on his line. " Same lure?" I
asked." yep. yellow spinner bait"! Hmmmmm " have I got one of those." I
wondered.



It couldn't have been ten minutes later, when I drove the boat up that way
again, I saw a fisherman with a pike on. He said it was the second pike in
TWO casts! Hmmmm "aren't you the same guy who was here twenty minutes
ago???" "Nope"...New guy. "What lure?" Yellow spinner bait" said he. They
must have been selling the d%$# lures by the side of the road when these
guys drove into that resort!!!!!



Now I've been out-fished by many of my peers, but rarely by two different
guys, standing on the shoreline, casting into the same water, at the same
time as I. Hmmmphhh!



I finally, reluctantly, dragged a yellow spinner bait out of my
well-equipped tackle box. First cast.BLAM.a 5 1//2 pound largemouth bass! I
haven't caught a bass that good in weeks! He destroyed the spinner bait so I
had to cut it out of him. I finally dropped him into the water with a small
portion of the hook still imbedded in his jaw. The experts say it will rot
out quickly. I certainly hope so. What a trophy for another angler!



I had another yellow spinner bait and I tied it on. Second cast..BLAM. 21
inch Northern! He, too, destroyed my yellow spinner bait before I let him
swim away...



Hmmmmm "any more in the box???" . Not really, but one that was
yellow/chartreuse with a red head. "Maybe that will work." Ten or fifteen
casts later.BLAM.a 32-inch muskie swallows it whole. After a modest fight
(he didn't know he was hooked, I think) I netted him and put him on the
foredeck. THEN.he decided that he wanted no part of this nonsense and
thrashed his way right through my big fishing net. I was able to hold him
down for a fuzzy picture and let him go. All the while I was catching these
three fish, the rain had started coming down in volume. As I re-tied the
lure, the rain stopped, and so did the fishing.at least the biting part of
it, anyhow.



Every couple of days since, I've fished the same place. I caught one or two
northerns, always on a yellow (or red) spinner bait! I thought I had found
the Holy Grail..



One week alter, Sue was off on a golfing holiday with her friends, and I
slipped the boat out into the fog on a Wednesday morning. Same place, but
maybe a little shallower and weedier. Yellow spinner bait.BLAM.a 23 inch
Northern.. A half hour later.nothing.nothing. .nothing. I tied on a
Jitterbug. That lure looks like a drunken mouse waddling its way across the
water. The lake was glass smooth, and fog descended in spots. My brother in
law, upon seeing a Jitterbug for the first time, opined that he had "never
seen a mouse swimming on a lake." True, I hadn't either, but I liked the
idea.



On about the fifth cast. Chug. blug..chug... blug.. Chug.. blug..Blam. A
35-inch Northern came up and swallowed the "mouse." I fought him to the boat
and tried to net the whole fish. He or she was much too long for my modest
net. The first amateurish swipe left the fish hanging on the side of the
net, pinioned with only a single hook from the Jitterbug lure! I figured I
had nothing to lose, so I pulled the net; lure; and fish onto the foredeck.
God, what a beauty. Since I had caught a 32-inch muskie only a week before,
I knew that this one was a lot longer and thicker. He stayed to visit for
only seconds. He jumped; twisted and snaked his way over the edge of the
boat, back into the water. He broke off the single hook and took it with
him. He left me with a net, entangled with a Jitterbug, minus one hook!



Another 25 inch Northern liked the swimming mouse about fifteen minutes
later. Enough of this fun. Three good fish, three more misses and then off
to some golfing. It was only 8 a.m. when I pulled the boat from the water.



This place is going to wear me out!!!



RichG
--
RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners

What part of the country are you in? Sounds like a fun place to fish.

Matthew

What part of the country are you in? Sounds like a fun place to fish.

Matthew

Wisconsin

--
RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
"GrateMGL" wrote in message
...
What part of the country are you in? Sounds like a fun place to fish.

Matthew

Wisconsin

--
RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
"GrateMGL" wrote in message
...
What part of the country are you in? Sounds like a fun place to fish.

Matthew