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Our grandson, Zane, wanted to spend Saturday night at Grandpa and Nanna's house. It is great he still wants to spend time with his grandparents, but my wife and I are quite exciting people. We had a couple hours of daylight left when he arrived so I asked him what he would like to do. He glanced toward the lake and said, "Let's go fishing."

Last weekend, the lake was still covered with ice. A few warm days followed and one morning the ice was all melted. We have not been fishing since last fall and a moderately warm day boating on water that is only slightly above freezing seemed like a perfect time to kick off the fishing season. My wife was not convinced she wanted to find out if the fish had woken up from a long winter's nap. It was up to Zane and me to set the pace for the year.

The boat was tied to the dock and ready to go from towing the swan nest into position. All we had to do was grab the tackle and cast off. Zane took two rods, one with a big bass spinner and the other rigged with a plastic grub for crappie and bluegill. I took one rod, equipped with a plastic minnow, thinking it would work for crappie or perhaps a smaller bass. We fished the edge as we slowly trolled to the crappie hole out by the fallen trees. We worked the holes and drop offs. We fished among the fallen trees for close to an hour and never got a bite. Fish do not hibernate, but they could just as well have been still asleep. Zane suggested we try behind the island. The boy does have patience when it comes to fishing. I was ready to give up and go back to the house but going behind the island was not a bad second choice. We would at least be out of the cold breeze while we did not catch fish.

In the past, we have hit schools of crappie in the shallow edges of the island. Out of the wind, the boat rocked slowly side to side as we cast, time after time. After throwing the line in and cranking it back up so many times our arms were getting sore, I was shocked when Zane shouted, "I got one!" He reeled in a nice one pound bass; the first of the year. A couple minutes later, he caught another, and then I caught one. The bass were hitting crappie lures one after another. They ranged from less than a pound to about three pounds, big enough for a good fight.

I was casting off the back when I felt Zane set his hook off the front hard enough to rock the whole boat. I turned to see Zane's rod bent over double as he cranked on something very heavy. He and I both began to think he had snagged a log or hooked a turtle when a big slab sided bass turned at the side of the boat, jerked, and was gone. It was bigger than all the fish we had caught up to that time combined. It was only a fleeting moment but it was a rush. The sun was going down and we were getting cold. We could go back to the house satisfied in the knowledge we got the season off to a good start.[[In-content Ad]]

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