Let Me Count the Ways a "Fun" Fishing Day Can Go Haywire

It started when I showed up at West Neck early yesterday morning, intent on spending a nice, quiet day on the water. What I hadn't counted on was opening the door to my boat shed, only to find someone had turned off all the electricity in the batting cage next door. You see, my electricity and that of about three other boat owners originate in that batting cage.

After sending a text to the marina owner and leaving a message on his answering service, I went ahead with readying my boat for a day of fishing, despite this setback. Once I had removed the boat cover, I checked my batteries and was satisfied they were satisfactory to go ahead and launch.

While taking care of these rigging necessities, I received an answer to my earlier text from the owner. He passed along the combination for the lock on the door to the batting cage, so I could let myself in to check the situation. The evidence I found suggested that someone had decided to turn off everything at the breaker box, rather than just pull the plugs on a couple of big fans. I can only believe that he/she didn't care enough to find out what other things were going to be affected by their near-sighted decision.

I have the uncomfortable feeling that yesterday very well may not be the last time I will have to address this matter, but be assured I will do whatever's necessary to make sure everyone involved knows where I stand on such short-sightedness...especially since I always pay my monthly storage fee well in advance of the due date. 

Once on the water, I thought...for a short time...my day might be looking up. In a distance of about 10 yards, I managed to put three fish in the boat. But, alas, that positive sign proved to be only a tease. I spent the rest of the day digging lures out of trees...and sweating the fact I might miss seeing one of those slithery creatures during my inspection. Thankfully, the latter didn't happen.

In particular, I had one of my $25 lures in extremis several times, but thanks to the very long lure retriever that I always keep in my boat, I was able to rescue that prized lure each and every time. This much I promise you: I'll never leave one of those lures hanging in a tree if at all possible.

I also was fishing a weightless soft plastic that, much to my chagrin, repeatedly kept getting hung in submerged wood. Rather than waste a lot of time trying to free those baits, I simply cut my braided line and bid the hooks adieu. Then, however, came the chore of attaching a new hook--normally a simple task, but not yesterday when, for some reason, I appeared to be all thumbs.

Then there was the matter of catching nothing but cookie-cutter fish all day. I had nine of them, but not a single one would have gone 2 lbs. I didn't even consider weighing one of them. It wasn't until about 30 minutes before I quit that I finally hooked what I knew was a bigger fish. Unfortunately, he stayed down throughout the fight, and it wasn't until I started to boat-flip him that I saw what it was: none other than a bowfin. I simply reached down with my scissors and cut the line at the hook.

Mere minutes later, I topped off my day by banging my right leg just below the knee, leaving some of my skin behind and creating a knot, too. At that point, I had had all I wanted. I quickly wrapped up my rods and headed for the ramp.

Met up there with the same fella I launched just behind yesterday morning and learned he, too, had had a cookie-cutter day. Didn't bother asking him if the had experienced anything similar to the other events that had marked my day. Figured he probably wouldn't want to talk about it if he had.