Something incredible happens from time to time. When it occurs most folks try to soak in the moment. This was not the case for me when I was growing up (concerning fishing anyways.) Many a hot day in the ole green boat burning up in the scorching heat. Hour after dreaded hour on the boat "trying" to enjoy the experience. On few occassions I would go with my dad or my grandpa and they would fill the cooler full of fish. Mostly large bull Bluegills. In late spring or early summer it was nothing to catch the daily limit of 100! And I will always remember those times where the bait only had to hit the water before those rabbid fish would tear off through the water, like a wild man on speed! Two or three fish at the same time if you had multiple rods out. One spot would bring a days glory, and enough fish to feed an army.
But fast forward a decade, and for some reason it seems harder to find those kind of spots. And if you do, the bite seemed a little less dramatic. The fish a little more scarce and starved. What happened to the "old days." What happened to the "I remember when we caught em this many, at such and such size!"
Well something remarkable happened last Saturday. An otherwise typical journey up nigger lake to a familiar spot turned out to be a trip down memory lane. Within the first ten minutes on our spot, dad and I were knee deep in bluegills. And not just any bluegill, but huge bulls! The ones I remember catching when I was a kid. The kind that nearly pull you into the water! I caught a 2lb bass and thought I had small hen brim. The bass was either trying to get away from the GODZILLA sized bluegills by jumping on my hook. Or we were seriously in on some monster fish! I'll let you make the call ;-)
In nearly four hours we probably had caught up to 55-60 fish. And with no end in sight we had to unfortunately cut our day short. I estiamte that we would have reached the daily limit on this one spot easy. The ride home was a welcome to my wrecked arms and hands. My trusty wits and fast reflexes were the only things saving me from a dip in the alligator infested water. As these bluegills were destined to pull so hard they would nearly flip the boat! With the AC blasting, a nice cold cola in hand. I couldn't help but smile, knowing that my river wasnt done with great memories yet!
But fast forward a decade, and for some reason it seems harder to find those kind of spots. And if you do, the bite seemed a little less dramatic. The fish a little more scarce and starved. What happened to the "old days." What happened to the "I remember when we caught em this many, at such and such size!"
Well something remarkable happened last Saturday. An otherwise typical journey up nigger lake to a familiar spot turned out to be a trip down memory lane. Within the first ten minutes on our spot, dad and I were knee deep in bluegills. And not just any bluegill, but huge bulls! The ones I remember catching when I was a kid. The kind that nearly pull you into the water! I caught a 2lb bass and thought I had small hen brim. The bass was either trying to get away from the GODZILLA sized bluegills by jumping on my hook. Or we were seriously in on some monster fish! I'll let you make the call ;-)
In nearly four hours we probably had caught up to 55-60 fish. And with no end in sight we had to unfortunately cut our day short. I estiamte that we would have reached the daily limit on this one spot easy. The ride home was a welcome to my wrecked arms and hands. My trusty wits and fast reflexes were the only things saving me from a dip in the alligator infested water. As these bluegills were destined to pull so hard they would nearly flip the boat! With the AC blasting, a nice cold cola in hand. I couldn't help but smile, knowing that my river wasnt done with great memories yet!
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