I Didn't Ask for That Kind of Day, But I Got It Anyway

Since yesterday's tournament marked the eve of my becoming an octogenarian, I really had hoped maybe I could turn around some of my misfortunes of late and have a decent day on the water. Other than for the fact I managed to safely net all the nice fish my partner caught, however, the day proved to be just one more in a long list of "what could have been but ultimately wasn't."

An old bait like the one I had used earlier in the week with relative success proved to be absolutely no help whatsoever to start the day, so I was quick to opt for another of the same ilk. Hadn't used it very long before I made a long cast (for me) that landed to the left of a cypress tree. And while working it with an altered version of its normal operation...as I've been doing for a couple outings now...I watched as a fish swirled ever so gently beneath it before sucking in the bait and making a mad dash behind and to the other side of the tree. He then provided an obligatory heavy splash...letting me know he was a decent sized fish...before burying my bait's hooks on the other side of the tree and wrenching himself free.

Later, I was fishing a soft-plastic bait that had been gathering a healthy dose of grass and/or slime on nearly every cast. The bait just had landed to the rear of two trees standing side-by-side, and I was detecting a heaviness that I felt certain was another wad of grass and slime. Accordingly, I simply kept reeling until the "mess" I fully was expecting to see was only a few feet behind the boat. Suddenly, though, I realized what I was feeling wasn't a "mess" at all. Instead, it was a fish.

At only that late point did I try to execute a hookset, which as you would expect, was "too little too late." I only momentarily felt the tug of and saw the swirl of the healthy fish that evidently just had been "hanging on for the ride" all the way from aft of those two now distant trees.

As I indicated earlier, the day wasn't a total loss. I did manage to net all my partner's nice fish. And, too, I caught a dink bass and small white perch. Beyond that, I convinced myself to respool my worm rod with some hi-vis braided line, given the difficulty I was having in the conditions yesterday to see where my line was and what it was doing in the water.

My partner also has persuaded me to at least try a longer rod, since I absolutely refuse to take his advice about going back to spinning gear for my worm fishing. I lived that nightmare once and have no intentions of ever looking back. I equate that period in my long life to my Navy career. As I've said many times over the years, "I wouldn't take a million bucks for my experiences during those 20 years, but I also wouldn't give you a nickel to repeat any or all of them either. In other words, "Once is enough!"