I Finally Did It!

I went fishing! WoooHOOOO!! Yeah, I know I actually went fishing once already this year … a quick jaunt to the beach for some Winter surf fishing. But, I hadn’t targeted my favorite species, the Largemouth Bass, since last year – a long time for me. As you might know, I have been totally consumed with the sale of our house, purchasing a new one, and packing to make the move. So, fishing has, unfortunately, taken a back seat and probably will for at least another month.
However, it was this overwhelming undertaking that actually afforded me 50 minutes of relaxing, mind clearing, rod bending bliss in the great outdoors due to an unplanned but urgently necessary trip to the escrow office in Westlake Village. Actually, it wasn’t very relaxing because the cell didn’t stop ringing, as we are attempting to put the finishing touches on our new purchase by this Monday. It rang so much, in fact, that my phone battery folded under the constant pressure. I can’t complain, though, because I actually caught a couple of fish in between calls!
After dropping off the paperwork, I just couldn’t pass up getting my line wet at the local lake. It was a gorgeous clear, sunny day around 80° with a very slight breeze. But, the water was still quite cold, probably in the very low 50’s. The good news was that between the rain we’ve had this year and season we’re in the lake had finally turned over.
I started out throwing a 4″ Ghost Shad BPS Suspending Jerk Bait and about ten casts in I get slammed on the pause. The whole time, I’m just praying that the fish doesn’t come unbuttoned. She tried vainly to throw the treble hooks, but the cold water was keeping her metabolism low and she just couldn’t jump clear of the water. Finally, I lip this 3-3 pre-spwan beast and snap a phone-cam pic of my first Bass of the decade.
A short time later and a few calls later, I’m fishing a 4″ Malibu-rigged Kinami Flash in Watermelon with Red and Black Flake when three guys in a boat tricked out with a trolling motor and fish finder come in and start fishing the same bank I’m fishing from. 👿 These guys can fish the entire lake in their sled, but they choose to fish in my little spot. But, they were about to be given an instant karma rebate! Just as I cast my line out, two of the guys “surround” me with their casts. As I am looking at them in disbelief, my line gets a little tick. Then, I get a full pickup. I rear back for a solid hookset … BOOM! Right in front of these buggers I battle and land another chunky 3 pound Bass. I just smiled and went about the business of releasing the fish. Regrettably, as I went to take a picture of my sweet revenge the phone finally died.
Since house-purchase-people were undoubtedly going to need to get a hold of me, I packed it up and headed home. I can’t tell you what that 50 minutes did for my psyche. I had a huge shinola-eating grin and rocked out to high-volume tunes the whole way home. And, for the first time in months, I began to see a faint light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah, the next month will be nuts … but that should put us right in the middle of the spawn and about the time I’ll be ready for more than a quickie. 😉

©2010 Caution: Caveman Cooking/UHearMe, Inc. All rights reserved. This originally appeared on the Caution: Caveman Cooking blog at http://cavemancooking.net authored by Caveman. This may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it.