The Cure to what Ails You

I needed to run a few errands today over lunch and, since I ALWAYS have a rod (or 3) in the trunk along with some tackle, figured I might as well try a few casts at the pond.

I hadn't been fishing for over a month. Usually, the pond slows down considerably over the summer as the water heats up and often turns the color of pea soup with the algae blooms. Catfish get fairly active, but bass are quite tough to find, especially without a boat. There are really only 1 or 2 spots to fish from shore.

But - I'd rather get skunked trying for a fish or 2 over lunch than do the usual eat-and-run lunch. So - off to the ponds.

My game plan before I got there was to tie on a Cubby and try to get a few 'gills. At least I can usually get a couple of them to bite. When I opened the tackle bag, an old (at least 20 years old) Rebel Teeny Pop-R caught my eye. I have not fished with one of these for eons, even though they used to be one of my favorite lures, especially when wading for smallmouth bass. So - I tied it on and tried to make a largemouth or 2 come to the top at noon.

The action of his particular lure was perfect. Nothing really replicates a perfectly tuned Pop-R. I have dozens of other popping lures but none sound quite like the old Pop-R's. I was having a ball simply casting and making the lure do different things - make it dive a little, slow pop it, run it across the water, ... Well, apparently a few little largemouth found it enticing, because I fished for 30 minutes and got 5 hits, landing 4 fish. 1 was tiny - 6". 2 were around a foot. The next was maybe 13-14" - a nice fish, especially on my 4-1/2' ultralite rod! And, my last one was a solid , chunky 16" bass, which surprised the hell out of me!

I feel rejuvenated, like I received a shot of adrenaline. Just being out there was great - saw a few really nice butterflies that I hadn't seen yet this year, and saw a buck in velvet. The fish were just icing on the cake.

Sorry - no pics - didn't plan on fishing so I didn't bring a camera.

Get out there and go fishing -it does a body (and soul) good.