Saturday, April 16, 2016

Go Fishing, After Mass



God never did make a more calm, quiet, innocent recreation 
than angling.  
Izaak Walton

With Walton's Compleat Angler in mind I went fishing, after Mass. It was good to stand on the bluffs overlooking Lake Whitney and cast off in the hope of big fish, though I was more in it for relaxation and quiet concentration than anything else.

Not knowing the water, I tried the shotgun approach, which means throwing in a variety of lures to see if anything works, in this case plastics, spinners, a silver spoon and a crankbait shad. No result with the plastic worms and the spoon got hung up as I bounced it off the bottom. Contrary to the spirit of Mr. Walton, I made a bit of a ruckus trying to unsnag the thing but no joy, the lure was stuck, so I cut the line. Just then, a large gray Catfish rose up from the depths and circled around and above the watery tomb of the spoon. It was like a baby shark, no fooling.


Compleat

This taught me that big Catfish live under the bluffs on that part of the lake and that they can and will be caught if I fish accordingly. Think positive, fisherman. After the spoon, I had a bit of action on the crankbait, which was partially hit by a Bass as it lured its way near the surface, but no strike and I called it a day.


Look. It's a Fish.

Just for kicks, I cast off in a shallow part of the water on the way to the truck, using a small green spinner. Why not? Maybe the fish will find it irresistible, I thought to myself, and sure enough, after a couple of casts a ferocious little Bass attacked the lure like a social justice warrior at a Trump rally. And that was that.

Fish on,

LSP

4 comments:

Fredd said...

Well done with the social justice analogy, Reverend.

Even better: that little bass attacked the bait like Teddy would a case of Scotch on the Kennedy compound.

LL said...

Try liver as bait for those big cats, but bring a salt water rig because you'll need it.

LSP said...

I'd forgotten all about Teddy, Fredd. What an upright citizen he was! I could see him as a TV evangelist, come to think of it.

LSP said...

Good call, LL. I want to get on those cats...