Mission Accomplished!

This was my third fishing trip with  my buddy Jarred. He is the buddy that bought his license last year and only went fishing one time. Well he bought  his license earlier this year and got skunked for the second time. It got to the point where he began joking that I didn’t truly catch fish because every time we went together we got skunked.  So of course my retort was that I didn’t catch fish with him because he was bad luck to fish with.  Lol

My reputation as a teacher was on the line when we hit ditch pond with a bag full of minnows in hand. I couldn’t just assure him that he would catch fish because I have become superstitious about promising fish but i really wanted to get him into some.  So instead I made no promises and told him we would try our best.

We started off at about 5:30 and had lines in the water at about 5:40 since I had to set up my line and his. On his next trip I’m going to have to teach him a few knots. We started the fishing trip like we did the other two; lines in the water, beer in hand and me hoping for at least a bite.  Sure enough our lines were not even moving.

 My new buddy Charles came by and we talked about fishing a bit. I told him about my fishing experiences with Jarred and how he was still waiting for his first fish. I watched Jarred’s bobber for him while he joked around with Charles, telling him that he was starting to believe that I simply took pictures with other peoples fish when the bobber went under.

“There you go right there, “ I said and he turned around to see his bobber under water. He ran over to his rod and reeled in only to be met with the peeling of line and a bent over pole. I knew that what he had on his hook was bigger than a crappie so I grabbed the net. A bit later he brought out his first fish a nice 15” Largemouth bass. He was overjoyed and yet afraid to touch the fish or grab him by the lip. For me and Charles it was hilarious, like watching a child touch a fish for the first time but I guess we all started like that at some point! He quickly bumped my fist and said, “Alright, alright, you’re the man!”  Glad he acknowledged that because of course I am! He also ended up catching three small 5-8 inch crappie which he released.

Now at this point I noticed the change happen. Jarred went from talking it up and not paying attention to his rod, to the intent piercing gaze and concentration to the end of his line that only a fisherman possesses.  I must say I was proud. 

With the sun going down quickly I had yet to catch a fish. I had a couple of take downs but nothing stuck. Either way, I was happy watching my buddy catch fish. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get skunked that day so I figured if I was going to get skunked, I might as well get skunked with a fly rod in my hand. 

I took out Excalibur and prepared him for battle. I looked through my fly collection and decided on a “Sarges Crappie Fly” that Bryan from The Rogue Outdoors sent me a while back.  I took a few casts and after about my fifth cast I felt some weight on my line. I wondered to myself if it was a snag but I felt it move so I knew I had a fish on. a few strips later I had caught my first ever crappie on the fly! I was super excited as you might be able to tell by the picture. It was a nice size crappie that Jarred decided to keep along with his bass for a fish fry. Just this milestone would have been great but after a few more casts I had a second crappie on the line and my last fish of the day. 

We ended the day with Jarred having caught his first four fish and me having caught my first two crappie on the fly. We went from two trips with no fish to adding a third trip where we caught six fish all together. Now Jarred can’t joke that I don’t catch fish! Mission accomplished. 

Total Fish: 2 Crappie