Freshwater Fishing Scenes

As I work toward the launch of my new web site Fishing Insider Secrets, I'm looking back at some of my previous writing on the subject. Here's a piece from the first issue of my old newsletter, Outdoor Basics Weekly...

Back while I was still publishing Outdoor Adventure Digest, I got a note from a young guy who was just getting started in fishing. He wanted to know what advice I could give him. Where do you even start to answer that kind of question?

That’s why this is Outdoor Basics. In the past, kids grew up with fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities. I got my first fishing pole at the ripe old age of three. In today’s world, more and more of us live in cities with limited opportunities. Add the pressures of making a living, two income households, and single parent families, and often the chance to pass on an outdoor heritage just isn’t there. Newbies are turning to other resources like books, videos and the internet. I want Outdoor Basics Weekly to be one of those resources.

We’ll spend the first few issues looking at the tremendous variety of outdoor activities. After that, we’ll take up a different individual outdoor topic each week. This week: Freshwater Fishing.

Scene 1

It’s springtime on the shore of a Kansas farm pond. It’s one of those sunny spring days where the warm breeze carries away all of your day-to-day tensions. The same glorious weather is warming the pond. Weeds are just starting to show bright green against the dark bottom of the pond. Flashes of gold give away the bright bluegills slurping the new crop of insects from the water. We’ll spend the next couple of hours thinning out the ‘gills for the pond owner. He likes to catch bass, you see.

The garden worm squirms as you thread it onto the hook. A light flick of your wrist sends the worm toward the flashes of gold. The float sits flat, then stands upright as the bait settles. The long, thin float starts a nervous dance, then sinks out of site. Flick your wrist again, and the tiny ultra-light rod throbs in your hand as your line starts carving tight little circles in the water. . .

Scene 2

It’s mid-summer on the big river. The big flat-bottomed jon boat is loaded high with brightly painted 2-litre soda bottles. Our host is cutting the shad we netted earlier into chunks. As he does, you hand me the bottles one by one. I unwrap the heavy line, impale a chunk of bait and drop the jug over the side. Just as we’re all starting to relax, and I ask you what’s cold and wet in the cooler, you cut me off and point.

One of the jugs is bouncing across the water, against the current. Sometimes it goes completely under, indicating a big one. Our host dons his well-scarred heavy leather gloves, fires up the motor, and heads for the dancing jug. . .

Scene 3

The quiet hum of the electric motor sends the sleek bass boat gliding across the calm early morning water. The sun is up, but still playing hide and seek in the dawn mist.

The casting reel sings as you sent the old wooden plug soaring in a graceful arc. Landing with a soft plop, the plug sends rings chasing each other in ever-widening circles. A twitch of the rod tip, then two. Then your plug disappears into a bucket-size hole in the water with a sound like someone threw a bowling ball over the side.

Recovering your wits, you haul back, and the rod bends double under the fish’s weight. The fight is on. . .

If I’ve whetted your appetite, I’ve done my job. There are dozens of scenes we could have looked at. Dry flies for stream trout. Sturgeon on heavy saltwater tackle. Big pike on a hand line through the ice. The list goes on and on.

In the next few issues, we’ll take a look at scenes from saltwater fishing, hunting, camping and boating. By that time, I hope you’ll agree that it’s a wide, wild world, and it’s going to be our playground.

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