The other day I mentioned that I got the boat into the water and farted around on the Elk River between Hwy 72 and the Wheeler Reservoir. What I didn’t mention is that as I was pulling my boat from the water an old man, maybe 75 or 80 was bringing his flat bottom boat into the dock. I pulled out and he backed his truck and trailer down the ramp and then went back to his boat. I figured it would probably be easier for me to help him load his boat than it would be to make a statement to the po-po or emergency responders when the old man fell off his boat/trailer/truck set-up (each component of which appeared to be of questionable serviceability) and cracked his skull. So I gave the guy a hand.
A short while later, after he had pulled off of the ramp and I was stowing gear on my own boat, he walked up to me and, as God is my witness, looked like a drug dealer that was marketing his wares. He pushed his shoulder up against mine and then looked quickly around to make sure no one was watching before opening his hand and showing me this:
Now, I’m a pretty poor fisherman. I’ve kinda fallen into that cycle where every time I go bass fishing I do so poorly that it’s followed by 4 or 5 trips out to catch catfish (something that requires less skill than dropping rocks). Having someone share what lure to use and both where and how to fish it is rare. I had to listen to another 15 minutes of fish stories about all of the fish (size, location where they were caught, time of year, weather, etc) he had caught with it, but I was willing to pay that price.
Anyway, I picked up one of these at Cabela’s today and another that is similar but with slightly different markings. It sure would be great to go bass fishing and actually catch bass. I’m optimistic. I’ll let you know how it goes.