The One That Got Away

That's the title which angler Ken Harper gave a poem he wrote while laid up and couldn't fish. As noted in the introduction, he said it seems like "the ones that get away always are big and get even bigger as we think about them."

I was out bass fishin' on a beautiful summer day,

I knew today I'd catch her, and she wouldn't get away.

I was on the casting deck in a warm southern breeze,

The sun was turning pink and shining through the trees.

If I hook a big one, I hope she doesn't get away.

I raised my rod, thumbed the spool, and tossed my lure against the bank,

I turned the crank a couple of times, then felt a solid yank.

I said, "There she is," that's what we always say,

I had her now, and I was pretty sure she wouldn't get away.

I held my breath and kept my cool, I learned that from the pros.

I tightened the line and pointed my rod, then rocked back on my toes.

I felt the hookset solid and knew this was my day,

I turned the crank and fought her...she just couldn't get away.

Now the fight was on, between this 3-pound fish and me,

We need this fish bad, my partner and I agreed.

She made a run and took some line against a hefty drag,

I wanted to see that fish inside a weigh-in bag.

I begged and sweated in the early-morning gray,

That this 4-pound fish wouldn't get away.

I held my rod tip low to keep her in the lake,

She blew out anyway, oh for heaven's sake!

That fish weighs 5 pounds if she's an ounce,

Just get her in the boat now, that's all that really counts.

I knew I'd put her in the livewell, my confidence wouldn't sway,

That fish is mighty purty, she wouldn't get away.

As she got closer to the boat, my knees began to shake,

And I'm staring down her throat.

She made a run and leaped right up into the air,

She danced and tail-walked, then she shook her big ol' head.

My lure came flying from somewhere, I ducked it just in time and hung it in a tree,

We have unfinished business, this 8-pound fish and me.

Later, as I pondered, I figured it this way,

To have a chance to win today, I needed that 10-pounder, the one that got away.