I was just beginning my Saturday morning...doing the normal things that I seem to do every Saturday morning...laundry, straightening the kitchen, mowing grass. The phone rang and I was surprised to hear GW on the other end of the line. He had taken the boys fishing at a local pond. The fish were really biting and he didn't have a large enough cooler or any ice. So I grabbed the cooler from the back porch, jumped in my pick-up truck and headed by Twice the Ice on my way out to the pond.
There is a back-story to this tale. Local legend has it that the best bass pond in the county is located about 5 miles out of town on the Sylvester Highway. I should correct myself...it is not a legend because the Jenkins family has proved that it is true! Many years ago, one of Jack Jenkins' cousins, Rex, believed it so much that he bought the farm where the pond was located just to have fishing rights. That might be the "legend" part of this story, but you will never hear a Jenkins admit it. Anyway, our family has spent many hours on the banks of this pond proving the truth of this legend.
As a pulled into the drive leading to the pond, I could see GW and the boys out on the dam having fun. When I pulled across the spillway, Luca and Jack came running to tell me that I had to bring the cooler right away. They already had two nice bass and GW had just caught another one. We transferred the fish to the big cooler with the proper amount of "ohing" and "ahing" and before you knew it, I had a rod in my hand and was joining in the fun. For those of you who have never fished a local pond, I will tell you that one can spend many hours on the bank trying to catch "the big one" with no luck. No amount of wishing, hoping, or changing of lures will produce any results. However, when you stand on the bank at just the right time and hold your mouth just right, you can pull in fish one after another. This morning was just one of those times! GW caught a few more bass and then I caught a nice one, too. The boys were ecstatic. Each time we caught a fish, Luca had to grab the cellphone and take a photo while Jack posed with the proud fisherman. We spent about 3 hours casting, reeling in, and repeating the process. I hooked a really big bass, but I was using Luca's lightweight Zebco rod and lost my fish just when I got him to the bank. He literally too "hook, line, and sinker"! Everyone was getting hungry so we decided to head for home, but not before one more cast. Low and behold, I felt a huge tug on my line and reeled in the catch of the day. I started yelling for GW to come and help me when he caught sight of my catch breaking the water. He had caught a Speckled Perch and dropped him by the cooler as he ran to help me. I don't know who was more excited...I was yelling and struggling while GW looked like he was going in the water after that bass. Well, turns out that I caught the biggest fish of the day. GW caught the most so we were both happy.
I couldn't help but wish that Steve had been with us on this little adventure. Papa Steamer (as the boys call him) would have been proud! I could almost hear him reciting his first rule of fishing which is emblazoned on a little sign that hangs over my refrigerator:
I left GW at his house cleaning fish. I'm sure there will be a fish fry in our future! We had no need to stretch the truth about this fishing trip. I didn't measure or weigh my catch, but I think it just about equaled Steve's trophy catch that hangs on the wall in our living room. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! I'll let you be the judge. Needless to say, the grass still needs mowing, but that can wait until another day. Fishing is more important!
