You Don't See That Everyday

 April 22, 2023

This was a rather impromptu outing and in retrospect probably was a bad idea.  Luc is going in for a procedure that will require some time to recover.  That means he is out for at minimum one week.  He asked if he I'd like to spend a couple hours on the water with him.  I jumped at the opportunity.  Given my last  outing was so poor I wanted to get at least one more shot it before Luc was laid up.  Luc had a lot to do before tomorrow including taking his boat to the mechanic to check what was going on with his motor.  I had to be home to prepare dinner for some dinner guests.  I told him I needed to be home at noon the latest.  He assured me I'd be home way earlier than that. 

Starting with one of my oldest favorite poppers, the gurgler, a fly that probably fought more topwater fish for me than any other.  For some reason it went out of favor with me but since Luc wanted me to tie a few for him since I decided to give old faithful a go.  With the sun just peaking, we started fishing an in less than five minute Luc gets a a boil but misses it.  I proceed to get one just after.  It feels small and when I get it to the boat I realize why.  It's a crappie.  Luc in shock says he's never seen a crappie on topwater.  On the past several outing it seemed everyone was catching crappie as they were coming in shallow to spawn except me.  It's not that I'm all that particular to this fish and as a game fish it hardly puts up a fight.  One short run and then it quits but I had I hadn't caught a crappie in close to a decade so I would have liked to get one.  Additionally my buddy Koji from Japan, the last time he was out stateside remarked that he'd like to catch one since there is none is Japan, so I would like to send him a pic. 

For the next hour or two the fishing was fairly decent.  Not epic but good enough to keep us entertained.  Since we were on a short time frame we blasted through pretty fast but once the sun become higher the fishing all but shut down.  For the next hour it was a slog.  We began our way back to the launch ramp and for the next hour withe clouds starting to appear the fishing began to pick up.

Several more bass were caught or missed.  This one probably my best of the day was more luck than skill.  I blasted a cast right up against the trunk of a submerged tree.  When I glanced over to Luc who was position the boat to retrieve his fly from a submerged structure I was hit.  I think I felt it rather than seeing it and since the bass swallowed it deep I managed to hook the fish. 

Later down the drift Luc casted in between two submerged brush and got a small boil.  He didn't react in time and continued his retrieve when the fish decided to hit it again.  This time Luc set the hook and brought it in.  We laughed when we noticed it was a crappie.  Luc's first topwater crappie.  I joked "well I guess I no longer have that on you"  I did for about two hours.  Few more fish bass were caught on our way to the ramp before quitting around 10.

On the way home I had to stop by the market. In the parking lot I see an Escalade crashing into several park cars. Thinking of all the youtube videos of carjackers playing bumper cars in the parking lot with stolen cars I looked for an exit out of its path. Driving toward me and the two vehicles ahead of me it drives over a small hatchback. Crushing it Monster Truck style. As its climbing I see the underbelly of the SUV before in crashes down onto the rear of the parked car. It then plows through some of the shrubbery, knocking down a steel pole before a man runs out of the market and gets the car to stop. I recall as a kid of the 80s always wanting to go to the Big A and see the Monster Truck Shows and "Bigfoot" crush cars now I was seeing it front row and center. When the Caddie finally stopped it was an old woman who confused the gas and brake pedals. What a day.