Saturday, round two, us against the fish. And we answered the bell. Armed with a PDF map of the reservoir, a youtube video explaining the optimal knot for attaching a lure, and the hopes and dreams of untold generations of ancestors. Ancestors who braved the elements to provide sustenance for their family. Ancestors who carried a cooler with a couple of ice cold bottles of water, Dasani or Aqua Fina, our ancestors would never settle for store brands. On top of the bottled water was blue ice, pioneered by hard working ancestors to keep their bottled water cold, ingenious people our ancestors.
Of course, no fishing trip would be complete without some snacks on top of the magical blue ice and its mystical properties of coolness. We took Gold Fish crackers, just to spite the fish, and of course a small bag of bite sized Oreo’s, for dessert, dessert is so important.
After carefully choosing our starting spot, we parked the car, (after driving through a mud puddle, which is fine, I have four wheel drive vehicle, it was kind of an accident, I picked out a car with the features I wanted (blue tooth, so I don’t have to listen to the radio, or plug in my phone) and it happened to be four wheel drive, so mud puddles don’t scare me, very much) and hiked down to the shore, which was a lot closer than it should have been. Due to the above average rainfall the lake was at an above average height, or depth, or however it is said. We fished for a while but there was little room for casting, standing or us.
We hopped in the car, locked in the 4 wheel drive (just kidding, we were right by the highway) and moved on to the next place. It was near a bridge, and it looked promising. It had a wide bay on one side of the bridge, the shore was lined with giant rocks, to prevent erosion. Which should make excellent cover for fish, who want to hide, dart out grab a quick bite and duck back undercover (kind of like people who have spent the evening drinking and want a burrito before going home). At least that was my theory, and since it was the only theory we had it seemed wise.
Unfortunately, the bay was wide and to keep people safe, even people with 4 wheel drive, the road was lined with a guard rail, and parking was waaaayyyy down at the end. But, that never stopped our hungry, determined ancestors, or us. We got out, grabbed our poles, tackle and cooler and we were off. There was a narrow path through what appeared to be an ancient rain forest, filled with ticks carrying terrible, potentially lethal illness, so we opted to walk the miles down the side of the road back to the rocks.
Once there, after about 2 hours, we scrambled down the rocks, which is as close to death as I ever want to get. We stood there, under the withering rays of the sun, baking, casting, retrieving, sweating, and cursing the enemy, the fish. Oh, they were out there, we saw them jumping, and heard their insults. “Hey, mammal, you look warm, and sweaty, and kind of stupid.”
We fished and we had fun and we some cold water and we will be back, fish. Next time will be different, we will have some cans of pop, or soda, or cola, (you choose) with our water, and you will not be so lucky.
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This post was previously published on Life Explained and is republished here with permission from the author.
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Photo credit: iStock
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