Landing The Big One

Fishing is a hobby that I thoroughly enjoy; all of the fish I catch are described in exact detail without any exaggeration on my part, and I always catch my limit each and every time I go out, but I suppose just that last statement sounds a bit fishy doesn’t it.

I own enough fishing lures to start my own bait and tackle shop, Cindy’s Dad gives me a hard time about all of the rods, reels, and tackle I have accumulated, I suppose it took me way too long to realize that fishing lures are not necessarily manufactured to catch fish, they are actually made to catch fishermen.

My love of fishing began when I was a young boy, I remember some of the fishing tackle that I had back in that time, I never owned a nice rod then, I do remember actually cutting down a piece of cane and making my own rod, the reel was non existent at that time just a piece of line tied onto the end, I actually caught enough fish then with my limited supplies to get me hooked on fishing for the rest of my life.

I try to go out fishing at least a couple of times a month, Cindy’s Dad and his brother are my fishing partners, between the three of us we carry six rod and reel combos, three tackle boxes, three chairs, one ice chest, two thermos bottles, a net to land the big one, and a cart to carry all of our goods, I always say if you are going fishing you may as well come prepared, Cindy’s uncle says we may not catch anything but at least we look good doing it.

My brother had an old reel for a number of years, he offered to let me have, I bragged that if he sent it to me, with it I would land a bigger fish than he ever had, the reel arrived and I immediately took it apart, cleaned and oiled it, added new line and attached it to one of my favorite rods, all my brother asked in return was a picture of me, the reel, and the first fish that I caught with it, in my mind he was truly going to be impressed.

After several trips of fishing strictly with this reel I finally got the strike I was looking for, the rod tip bent just as I walked away to refill my coffee cup, spilling my coffee and diving for the rod I began the first fight with my brothers reel that landed the picture that he still gives me a hard time about today.

A Bluegill which was returned to it’s natural habitat was the big one that day, I decided to retire the reel until my luck begins to improve, I really don’t want to use it up as it is older than I am and parts are extremely rare, so for now I am breaking in a new reel that I acquired while we were in South Carolina, I attached it to the same rod and began plotting in my mind landing the next “Big One”

Bass fishing is another legend of my mind that I have been bragging to my fishing partners about, they just smile and nod their heads as I tell the stories of the monsters I have landed in the past, they sit in the fishing chairs and relax while I walk around and plug my lures into the water in hopes of catching my first Bass since we moved to California.

My Bass catching dream finally came true just last week, we went out to Fisherman’s Retreat which had been stocked with nice trout, and along with the stocked trout this place is known to hold some nice trophy Bass, I was ready.

Walking around the lake and plugging my blue and silver Kastmaster lure towards all the trophy Bass I imagined were hiding under the banks and brush, I finally got a strike, it may not have been the earth shattering, water splashing, fish jumping into the air strike, but I finally had some action.

I fought and maneuvered the line to guide my catch through the brush, knowing that I had wandered too far away to expect any help of someone with the net to help land my trophy bass, I was left to my instincts, and with these instincts I knew as the fish got closer exactly what I had.

My first bass caught in California, although it may not have been a trophy, at least it was a bass, I did my due diligence and released my catch back into the water, he splashed the surface a bit leaving a small wake behind as he swam away.

My luck at fishing may not have been the best in the world lately, but they do say, “A bad day fishing is better than a good day doing…most anything else.”

Do you like to fish, and have you ever made a quote about something you are good at only to come up short when proving it?