Outdoors - Hit and Miss

   A few days ago, my grandson, Zane, stopped by after work. He said he and his boss were thinking having fish for lunch would be a good idea. Zane volunteered to catch the fish for the company fish fry. I asked if he needed help and he said “sure.” He did not know how many fish it would take, but he guessed they would eat whatever was caught.

   He headed down to the lake and got the canoe in the water while I rounded up a couple of fishing rods. We were going after crappie and bluegill, so I chose two rods that already had crappie lures on them. I did not bother to take the tackle box since it would not take long to catch all the fish they would need. In an emergency, I could borrow a lure from Zane.

   The lake was like a sheet of glass and the temperature was in the mid-seventies when we glided out away from the dock. Zane warned me, the canoe paddle had seen better days so we would not be making any speed records for fear of it breaking. Though we only had one paddle with us, I did not concern myself as we were in no real hurry. I cast back toward shore as we pulled away and immediately got a hit. A large fish grabbed my lure and ran with it, snapping my line. I was now down to one rod and one lure. We floated along and Zane started pulling in fish. Decent sized crappie and small bass were taking his rubber grub and small hook. My rigging was a bit larger and different colored, which seemed to matter to most of the fish. They would hit it, but I could not set the hook. I was being out fished about 10:1. Zane slowly and carefully guided the canoe up to the downed trees near the back side of the lake. This area is always productive as the sunken logs and branches provide great habitat for the fish. I managed to pull in a few bass, just eating size, and Zane was slaying the bluegills. I was going to borrow a lure from Zane when I found out, he did not bring a tackle box either. He had one lure, and he was using it.

   We decided to head in before it got too late sure there was enough fish to make a meal. The canoe paddle held up until the last stroke going into shore. It snapped into two pieces, finally giving out after a long and useful life. Fortunately, we were able to coast into the dock as we would have been waiting a long time for the wind to blow us to shore.

   We set up our fish cleaning station at the garage and soon remembered why Damon usually cleans the fish. He is much better and faster than me or Zane. As a matter of fact, my son is faster than Zane and I combined. Though it was not a pretty sight, we did end up with a nice sized bag of assorted fish fillets. The next evening, Zane told me the lunch was successful with fish on the grill. They ate all they had, and they were delicious. What started out with a hit and miss trip, with more misses than hits, ended with everyone happy.