A Series of Unforeseen Fishing Events

Some fishing trips are filled with good luck. Some trips are nothing but bad luck. And then there are trips that are full of unforeseen events.  I experienced such a trip recently.  It started off normal enough. My wife and I went camping, and we took our fishing boat on the trip. I got up early on the first morning, and drove to the boat landing. Launching the boat went smoothly. After parking the car, I clambered into the boat, got the motor set up to start, and pulled on the cord. Nothing happened. I tried again, nothing.   I adjusted the choke, throttle, and gave the fuel bulb a few more squeezes.    Once again, I pulled and pulled on the starter cord-nothing.    Next, I tried positive reinforcement with the motor. I patted it on top of the engine hood and said “You can do it old guy”. Nothing. After many minutes of pulling on the starter cord with not even a hint of life from the motor, I may have uttered a few adult phrases directed at the old motor. Finally, I gave up on the original plan, and decided to use the trolling motor to putz across the lake and fish where some trees were semi submerged in the water. It was a bright sunny day, and the shore to which I was headed was the shady side of the lake. 

After reaching the trees, I dropped anchor and switched from a walleye jig to a worm and bobber and began to cast amongst the trees. The first few casts were unproductive. Then I found the magic spot about 3 feet to the left of one of the trees. As soon as the bobber and worm hit the water, there was a strike. I pulled in a nice-sized bluegill. I quickly dropped the fish into the fish basket and stuck another worm on the hook. I dropped the worm in the same and viola, there was an immediate strike. I caught another nice bluegill. It was cast, catch, unhook, drop the big ones in the basket, put on another worm, and repeat. The action continued hot and heavy for the next hour. I put enough big bluegills in the fish basket for campfire fish fry, and returned the rest to the lake.

As the morning progressed, an intermittent wind began to blow from the right to the left. A gust of wind blew one of my casts off course and the bobber and hook lake wrapped once around a bare branch a tree. The hook and worm ended up in the water, and a bluegill rose up and gobbled up the bait and hooked itself. Now, I had a fish on and was snagged to the tree. I thought, well, this is an interesting dilemma that doesn’t happen every day. First, I tried to get the line to reverse loop off the branch, but that didn’t work. I was half hoping the bluegill would jump the branch and undue the snag. No luck. I finally pulled the anchor and crept toward the snagged branch. I also continued to attempt to unwrap the line from the branch. It was getting interesting since one hand was operating the trolling motor, the other manipulating the fishing rod. I am not sure how it happened, but the line came loose and the bluegill took off. It was still hooked, though, and I was able to reel it in. After all that struggle, I wished the fish “Good Luck” and slipped it back into the lake. 

By now, lunchtime was fast approaching, so I cruised across the lake with the trolling motor and trailered the boat. When I got back to camp, I showed my wife the day's catch and asked her if she wanted a fish fry for lunch or supper. She opted for the supper option. 

Our campsite was on the water, so I set the fish basket in about 3 feet of water where it was hemmed in by some weeds and a tree. The tree had been in the water a long time, and the top of the tree was worn flat by innumerable campers walking out to the log to fish or get in their watercraft. 

After the fish were in the water, we had a light lunch and took a nap. In our camp, afternoon naps are a required activity on summer camping trips. We also took the scenic way to a convenience store to get ice, and hence were able to explore some of the beautiful scenery that surrounded the park where we were camped. 

After our ice run, it was time for supper, so I walked to the lake to get the fish basket to begin the process of preparing a fish fry. However the basket was gone! At first, I thought that a hungry camper had helped themselves to my fish. Then I noticed the red stringer that I used to tie the fish basket to the boat floating out by the end of the “dock” log. I found a long stick and used it to retrieve the red stringer and pulled in the fish basket. And indeed, someone, or rather something, had been hungry and helped itself to some of the fish in the basket. There was a large hole ripped into the side of the basket, and half the bluegills were gone. I had been robbed by a snapping turtle. At least the turtle was thoughtful enough to leave us some fish. 

The fish fry, as always, was extra tasty, being cooked over a fire by a lake when camping. The mixed-up fun of the day enhanced the flavor of the catch. 

A note on the boat and motor: The boat and motor are new to us, but the pair has been around for a long time. The motor has the Mercury Kiekhaefer brand on it. The company stopped using that brand in 1973. The model of boat was made in the late 1970s. So learning the quirks of an old boat and motor is part of the fun of any trip on the water.