Fall Fishing Day 2

So without further adu* - day 2 of our intense fishing trip. Well it pretty much started out the same as day 1 minus the "almost sinking of a boat." We put in at Cloverleaf landing which is about 3 miles south of Byrnes Lake on the river. First order of business was to get mean with a few big fish. Paul had set the standard on day 1 that needed to be topped. I had a spot in mind that I had not yet tried due to the lack of electronics (fish finder) at the time. This abyss of a hole was said to be some 100+ feet deep. And can be seen about 200 yards from the landing. - Now before I jump too far ahead, there is a short story that must be told. If you think you have ever seen a redneck I challenge you. You better have something slight of Bigfoot to bring to the table. Upon launching the boat this.....man....approached. I don't believe my description will do this man justice but I will try for all im worth. Standing before us from head to toe...flip flops (hairy feet) up to the skinniest legs. From here a pair of shorts (most likely hippie shorts from the 70's) to one of the roundest, must buldgeonous beer bellies (dirty white t-shirt was on thankfully) to some what hairy scronny arms holding....take a guess....thats right....a Budweiser. Further on up to the face is what id like to call a "dirty man's black beard." Not thick but prickly, splotchy, and black. In fact the mustache hair was darker and more prominent...so maybe the idea was to get a beard back? (past tense - not that I thought this guy could own enough money to buy a razor.) Then the most interesting feature was the reverse Nascar hat (didn't catch which Car#) which split this 80's metal Metallica hair due right in half. Shoulder length, black, greasy, matted dirty man's hair (this guy might be what people are describing as Bigfoot) So after standing an uncomfortable ten feet from us and the boat, Rocky (he looked like a "Rocky" to me) asks us if we're going fishing. Lets ponder a moment...

Fishing Rods, boat, cooler, fish finder, fish net, worm bucket, crickets..?

So we (Paul, Zach and I) nod and say "yeah." He responded, "Whatch ya'll fishin for?" - If my memory serves me correctly I believe Paul responded "Anything that will bite." - Now let me stop yet again...my cousin Zach has this "quietness factor" about him when something unusual occurs. Like a random Sasquatch-man-nascar-fan standing withing a close touching distance. His reaction is unsettling to me in this respect. I think in his mind he's got this scenario going on, something to this effect.

"I didn't say anything....I don't know these guys. (the rest of us) Have you ever heard of Holt?? Yeah im from there!"

He plays Mr.Quiet, he's not "comitting" himself to this strangers evil plan to overthrow us at any minute. Something along those lines. We'd be the next "Deliverance" and he'd escape to tell an epic story about how he fought ten Cloverleaf rednecks to get away by the skin of his teeth (or however the saying goes)

So on with the trip. I state the obvious to Rocky by saying the water was way up. He responded with a tone that gave me the impression he was thinking "What kind of retarded wanna-be fisherman are these guys. Look at the guy with the top hat!" (Paul) - So Rocky wished us luck and Ed finally made it to the boat after parking the Blazer. And off we went to the 100ft hole. We scouted out the hole paying attention to the fish finder and to say the least we spotted some big fish. So we decided to try parking next to the big bluff bank and cast out towards the deeper water. Not even five minutes with the bait in the water Zach's rod takes a slow bend. He announces that he has something huge, and I must say that I believed him. After a very short moment, whatever huge beast was tampering with his bait decided to play a nice trick on Zach and hung him up. I only knew the frustration. Well actually, to tell you what great anglers we are...we were all hung up! About six lines total, so we proceeded with the un-hanging of our lines and decided we would drift through the big hole. With the strong gusts of wind from Hurricane Ike hundreds of miles out in the Gulf it was an easy task. To make a long uninteresting story short, we didn't do any good. And the water was extra salty/brackish. So from there we headed up to a famous spot known as McVoey - pronounced MACK-E-VO-EY. Many a Gilman fish has hit the cooler up ole McVoey...buttt....not today. With the river up and water brackish today's fishing was looking grim. So we headed back to our previous days spot on the right hand side of the main river a little further up from the mouth of Byrnes Lake. And finally...some fish! More small cats and a jail fish (sheeps head) which we would use as cut bait later. I noticed at one point a large animal crossing the half mile strecth of water between the shore and Gravine Island. A beast of a wild boar! I could best describe it as looking like a full grown moose without antlers from afar. If I had to guess id say over 300lbs easy. And it swam clean across the whole river to our side of the shore. (WOW!) So as the afternoon drew in we decided to head up to our "monster hole."

So with the boat in place and the lines out, we caught crabs! The underwater devils of our Big Cat Hole. At least 30 minutes went by without so much as a bite (minus the crabs.) This was not a good sign as I knew enough about fishing this hole to know when the bite is "on." As we were waiting a boat with two amazing looking "trailor folk" were approaching in their small Jon boat. Both shirtless and one armed with a decent sized rifle. As if speaking in a different language the armed man cried out "Ya'll seen any critta?" - We all looked at each other and I stated that we had seen a 500lb wild hog cross the river. The unarmed boat driver replied in a retorted unbelieving "Five hundred pound...." he gave me a very uninterested look. I almost laughed but then remembered they had the gun. So then they asked if we tried to drown it. Again I almost laughed but realized these guys were serious. We simply left it at "no." So then the armed man announced they had seen two dead/drowned hogs floating a few yards up river from our spot. After they left we agreed on the more likely story.

So with all the fantastic drama occuring I suppose the fish had gotten stirred up. Next thing we knew Paul was holding onto his rod  as if he were trying to rescue a drowning man. His rod arked over like a rainbow and he had this look of disbelief on his face. But a twinkle in his eye that told me he was going to catch this fish. After a near panic once we all realized what was happening I grabbed the net and Zach grabbed the camera. This was an outrageous fish, it wasn't going to budge. I knew he had something similar to what I had the prior day (but missed.) This unknown beast was stripping line from his reel. I knew it was enormous because I adjusted the drag a little under it's tightest possible setting earlier. Paul fought the fish back though like a pro boxer. Trading licks with the fish to gain line. Five long minutes went by and the fish went up river and back down before finally emerging. What I hoped to be a 40+lb catfish turned out to be a "mystery fish." Like a huge drum of some sort. Which later wouldn't be far from the truth. I scooped the massive fish into the net and could hardly lift it over the boat (had it not been for the Beanie Weenies I ate earlier, I doubt if I coulda) So there in the net lay this fish that could swallow a mans leg. We all stared at it in disbelief not knowing what to do with it. In fact we actually discussed what to do next for about five minutes while the poor fish was dying in the net. So we finally decided to weigh it in the net and take pictures with the digital camera. We then decided it would be best to release it - which we did. This exceptional catch gave us new energy and a reason to sit out another hour or two on this hole in hopes that Zach might land his first big fish. Nearly five minutes after releasing the fish we noticed it a few yards down river floating on the top of the water. We were all very bummed at the sight, we knew we had killed it (not intentionally.) So we decided that we would pick it up on the way back to the landing. Well as time went by and we discussed the possibility of Paul catching a record Drum fish, the tide was slowly but surely carrying the enormous fish down river and eventually out of sight. But we were greedy, we wanted more....bigger...but that never happened. On the way back to the landing Ed made a truck down the opposite side of Gravine Island, away from where the fish most likely was drifting. Making the claim that it was too rough to go that way...but something in the back of my mind was teliing me "you better get that record fish or you'll be sorry." Needless to say we continued on our current route and never retrieved - So that night at dinner we broke out the Alabama Freshwater record booklet. Freshwater Drum = 41lbs! 1960 something! Well Pauls was 42lbs!!! He just defeated the record fish! A forty plus year record....and we watched the fish float slowly out of sight because we were too lazy to undo the boat because we thought we would catch something bigger!!!! How stupid could we be!? And whats worse was the idea that the "Critta" boys would find it and claim they caught it!

Paul wasn't looking to good...he had this "im going to be sick" look on his face. This needed to be verified...did we just watch the record Drum float out of sight? - The answer comes on my next blog - Day 3.

Stay tuned!