My Day Fishing

This evening turned out to be truly magical for one young lady.

I arrived at the lake late this evening. It was cold and windy, and the sun was already down. I rigged up and began fishing my normal spots. With only a few people walking, the lake was very quiet.

The young man was already making his way towards that perfect spot. He had rehearsed the entire thing in his mind a hundred times for sure.

I was standing near the gazeebo. It was completely lit up like one of the storefronts on MainStreet at Disneyland during the Christmas holiday. With the night as clear as it was tonight, those lights shown clear and bright.

I looked up just in time to see a shooting star. And it didn't just streak across the sky. It split into smaller pieces as it burned, giving the affect of pixie dust being sprinkled over the gazeebo. It was quite a sight.

He walked into the center of the gazeebo with his arm around the young lady. They spoke briefly and I watched as he knelt on one knee. After a moment he stood and she held her hand out at arms length to admire the ring. They hugged and kissed, and took some 'just engaged' pictures with their cellphone cameras.

The full moon rose over the horizon. It was one of those moons that looks so big that it seems like someone pasted an oversized cut-out right onto the sky.

The perfectly decorated gazeebo, the shooting star, the full moon rising, and the ring she had been praying for. It was exactly the kind of evening she had probably fantasized about since she was a little girl. Walt Disney himself couldn't have imagineered a proposal that would have made her feel more like a princess than that young man did this evening.

A truly magical evening to be sure.

It seems that the only fantasy of the entire evening that didn't become reality was me actually catching a fish.

><)))>

Another cub scout campout was upon us and Jacob and I set out Friday for Lake Henshaw. The boys were going to spend Saturday doing a variety of activities, including fishing, kickball, astronomy, conservation, and hiking. It was promising to be a very full day.

We arrived, set up camp and went down for the initial flag ceremony. After the ceremony, the camp leader said he was going to need a couple of volunteers to help out at some of the activity stations, one being the fishing station. I told him I could help in that area.

The next morning, the scout leader that was going to run the fishing activity station and I headed down to the water to find a place to set up. He wanted to put up a 'Not-so' Easy-Up as a make-shift outdoor classroom. The activity wasn't just going to be fishing. The boys were going to learn about different types of reels, regulations, and fish. But the interesting part was they were going to make their own fishing poles. Bill, the leader, had brought several pieces of bamboo. The kids were going to select a piece, rap some rope around one end for a grip, run some line up to the top, tie it off, and extend the rest of the line that a leader could then be tied to. It was right out of Huckleberry Finn.

By the way, this wasn't just a scout camp, it was a family camp, which is a specific kind of scout camp in which families are welcome to join in full. We had approximately 30 cub scouts, plus siblings. In all, we were going to doing this with about 55 kids (my guess). So Bill and I set everything up, went back for lunch, then headed back to the water as the kids started coming.

The camp site was about 1/2 a mile from the actual spot where we were fishing, so they were shuttling the kids back and forth in groups according to scout rank. Each group's session was about an hour and half.

I gave some presentations on the different kinds of reels, and Bill would help them build their bamboo rod. When they were done with the rod, Bill would send them down to me to put a hook on their line, show them how to bait it (nightcrawlers), and help them get their line in the water. Many of the kids had brought their own rods, so after they made their bamboo rod they would put it away and use the one they brought. The activity lasted from 12 noon till 5pm. We went through 3 tubs of nightcrawlers, several plastic worms, and dozens of hooks.

People have been catching crappie out of Lake Henshaw lately, and I know that there are LMB in there also. So with it being spawning time (approximately) I had suggested that we set up on the bank of a cove that we had found. The cove was fairly quiet, away from the main fishermen traffic at the landing. The cove was also totally full of trees and brush that were growing up out of the water. I told Bill that this would be a good place to find fish. He was concerned that we'd spend all day helping kids get untangled from the brush, but the brush stopped about 40 feet before it reached shore. I told him the kids probably wouldn't be able to cast far enough for it to be a problem. He agreed, so we spent the day in that little cove tying and baiting hooks for the kids. Only a couple kids got snagged, but we were able to free each snag without losing the line or hook. I was suprised that we didn't lose any hooks, or really get in any trouble with tangles. The only thing we seemed to be losing was nightcrawlers as many of the kids would come back saying, "My bait's gone!"

As I was giving one of the presentations for some of the younger scouts I noticed the smallest of them with tears welling up in his eyes. He had already finished his time fishing and hadn't caught anything. "I didn't catch a fish," he said. I told him I understood how he felt. "I go fishing a lot and there are a lot of times that I don't catch anything," I told him. "I try to catch a fish almost everyday, but it doesn't always happen. In fact, nobody has even caught anything here today." My timing couldn't have been worse.

At that very moment I heard someone yell, "HE'S GOT ONE!!! HE'S GOT ONE!!!!" I looked up just in time to see one boy fishing on the point at the beginning of the cove and a young large mouth bass come out of the water attached to his line. The entire group of kids and adults took off running. One guy netted the bass and the adults started snapping pictures of this young fisherman with the very first fish he'd ever caught. The great thing about this was he had caught it with the bamboo pole he had just finished making. A simple bamboo pole with about 10 feet of line total. No reel, no fancy tackle. Just a homemade wooden bobber and a nightcrawler and this modern day Huck Finn had himself his first Large Mouth Bass. We were all stoked. He had brushed off the skunk for all of us.

That young scout was the only one to catch a fish that day. A couple of other kids had hooked fish, but hadn't set the hook and ended up losing it. At 5pm the last of kids went back to camp and Bill and I broke everything down and packed it back into his SUV. It had been a very long day. I was exhausted, but it had been an absolute blast.

That evening at the Pack Meeting, the scout leader asked the kids, "You've done a lot of activities today. Kickball, Astronomy, Fishing, Conservation, Hiking. What was your favorite?" In almost perfect unison the entire cub scout pack responded with a loud resounding ....

"FIIIIISSSSSHHHHHHIIIIIIIIINNNGG!!!!!!!"

I couldn't help but smile and hope that I had helped play a part in getting these 50+ young boys and girls interested in this great sport. If so, it would be my biggest catch yet.

><)))>

Today, Mommy had a meeting at Jacob's school, so Daddy watched me. Last night he asked me, "What do you want to do tomorrow while Mommy is at her meeting?" I said, "Let's go fishing!"

It's nice when you get a chance to go fishing without any time constraints. I had the day off today so I headed over to the lake (of course) knowing I'd be able to just take my time. I didn't have to worry about being anywhere at a certain time.

The lake was very quiet today. Not like the last time I was there. No jackhammers, and almost no people. Very quiet indeed.

I started off with a spinner bait. The weather was cold and partly cloudy, but the water was still warm. After a while without a bite I switched over to a swim bait and got just as many bites with that. I tried a few different things, but I could not attract a bite. I figured that ol' ribbontail would entice more action with its undulating tail, so I rigged up a dropshot.

Several casts and still no luck. As I was standing in one of my normal spots I started looking at this rock ...

I was able to get away for a couple of hours on Saturday while everyone in the family had gone different ways for the day.  I headed over to Harveston (still saving up my pennies for a day with James at DVL or Skinner) to see if I could catch anything. It has been a while since I was there in the daylight.  Apparently, half the city had the same basic idea I did because there were people everywhere.  That's ok, though. I pretty much expected it.  I rigged up my rod and walked towards the bank. As I got to the edge I spooked a school of about 8 young bass. Nice! I've never actually seen bass just hanging out by the bank in this lake. 

I fished for a while, then helped a little boy untangle his rod. He had his line wrapped around his rod and couldn't figure out how to get it off. As we worked to free his line he stopped suddenly and almost noticeably started to shake as he realized that not only was his bait gone, but he had accidently hooked himself ... right in the zipper!!! He was alright. That little hook couldn't have gotten through those cargo pants, but when your 7 years old that can give you quite a fright.

As his dad came over I told them about the school of bass and they and their friends headed over there to see if they could hook one.

As I worked another area of the lake I actually saw the same kind of giant carp we see over at RSM. I knew they were in there, but I had never actually seen one. Later I saw another one, but this one was white and orange and looked a lot like a Koi.

Now I have to mention that not only was half the city there at the park that day, but it seemed like half of them were fishing. There were fishermen everwhere. Not shoulder to shoulder, but the pressure was definitely on. And if that wasn't enough, a construction crew was working on the community pool (which boarders the lake) ... with a jackhammer. I may be wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure jackhammers going full-tilt, non-stop for several hours 15 feet away from a lake you're trying to fish will have some adverse affects on your chances of hooking up.  I tried to get to a place where reverberation of the jackhammer would be diminished, hoping to find a bunch of bass there plugging their ears. Unfortunately I didn't get a bite. Those hammers were going when I got there and continued non-stop the entire time I was there.

So I figured since the sun was still up and I still had some time left, I'd head over to the local pond. So I broke my rod down and said goodbye to the crowd and the jackhammer, taking with me the only thing the lake had to offer that day. A skunk.

As I entered the little park where the pond is, I only saw one guy and his family by the pond fishing. I asked if he'd had any luck and he said his daughter had caught a large mouth. Good signs! This was much better. I started heading over towards the first bunch of reeds. As I rounded the bend and the rest of the pond came into view, what do you think I found?  That's right!!  The other half of the city! Now this is a very small pond with limited shoreline due to the reeds and the boundaries of the park. And fishing that limited shoreline had to have been what seemed like two dozen people. Ok, maybe it was more like 12, but when you're not expecting any, 12 might as well be 100.

I worked my way down the bank trying different baits, fishing where I could. Most everyone else was catching bluegill on live worms. I didn't have live worms. I didn't want to fish for bluegill. And I still don't have any more of those bluegill pattern swimbaits that the bass in this pond probably would have gone for.

So, as the sun started to set I headed back to my car having fished two different bodies of water and came away with my limit of 2 skunks in one day.

Well, WalMart was all out of those bluegill swimbaits, so I picked a shad pattern that was similar and headed back to the lake this evening after dinner (and dishes).

I fished all over the place, starting with the spot where I had lost the one last night, of course. Not a single bite.

I started fishing the other side of the lake and I started feeling strikes on my line. Not as hard as those from last night, but it got me excited anyway .... until I realized it was just a bat that was attracted to my line movement. I watched as he flew back and forth hitting my line over and over. You'd think he would have gotten a clue. Apparently not. I started to lift my rod as my bait came in close and he went for my rod tip. Eventually he took off, but as I moved on from that spot the bats just kept coming over to check me out. That was fun to watch.

But no fish. Bummer.

><)))>

The stored procedures have been modified.
The logic has been corrected.
The data has been ETLed and promoted.
The code has been deployed.
The reports have been made available.

Now I can fish ... finally.

Yeah, I got my line wet last Friday. But calling that fishing would be like wiping your arm-pits with baby wipes and saying you showered.

So after dinner I headed over to the lake before the sun went down. I started off with a spinner bait but didn't have any luck with that. Not even a nibble. After a while I started throwing a crankbait. The fish liked that crankbait almost as much as the spinner. Still nothing.

I figured, "What the heck!" and tied on that little bluegill pattern swimbait. The next thing I know, this nice bass absolutely SLAMMED that little swimmer.

Busy weekend. Resurrection Sunday is tomorrow and our weekend is filled with visiting family and friends. Today we went to see some family in Orange County and got home just before sundown. Tomorrow we probably won't be home until well after dark, so I figured I'd get a little bit of fishing in this evening while I could.

I went over to Harveston, set up the same rig that landed me a bass last time I fished there at night (ribbon tail worm on a drop shot) and fished the same area again.

I watched a couple of young boys haul in a nice sized catfish right in the same spot where I snagged the one that ran off with my lipless crank. Must be a good spot for catfish because they landed a couple more.

Then it was my turn.