SunRae writes: I can feel the stress leaving my body as I read this story. Now this is what every true fisherman knows it's all about. Willie is from SC and has many stories to tell. I hope he continues to send them in for us all to share.
My Most Relaxing Day Fishing
by: Willie
AKA: Big Bear 7
MY BUDDY AND I WENT OUT FISHING ONE MORNING. IT HAD JUST TURNED LIGHT OUT AND THINGS WERE LOOKING GOOD FOR US. A FOG WAS OVER THE WATER AND NOT A SOUND IN THE AIR. NO TRAFFIC TO HEAR FOR MILES FROM US. NO PEOPLE IN THE WATER OR ON SHORE TO LISTEN TO. NOT A PEEP COULD BE HEARD EXCEPT FOR THE HERONS AND GEESE THAT WERE IN THE WATER. WE WERE FISHING ALL DAY LONG. I THINK THE WHOLE DAY WE STAYED ON THE WATER ABOUT 10 OR 12 HOURS. I WATCHED THE RIVER OTTERS SWIM AND PLAY. 3 OF THEM. 2 GROWN UP ONES AND A LITTLE ONE. THEY GOT WITHIN 15 FOOT OF MY LITTLE BOAT. TURKEYS WERE WALKING THE BANKS OF THE SWAMP EATING BUGS AND SUCH. DEER CAME OUT TO DRINK THE WATER AND SQUIRRELS WERE JUMPING IN THE TREES ALL AROUND US. THE FISHING WAS INCREDIBLE THAT DAY. WE HAD ENOUGH TO EAT FOR 4 OR 5 MEALS FOR THE BOTH OF OUR HOUSES. BUT THE QUIETNESS OF THE WATER IS WHAT I WILL REMEMBER. WE TALKED AND HAD A GOOD TIME. BUT THE RELAXATION TIME WAS WHAT WILL STICK IN MY MIND. THAT'S WHY I CALL THAT DAY, MY MOST RELAXING FISHING DAY YET.
Willie Joins Fish In Their Habitat!
ONE DAY, MY BUDDY AND I WENT FISHING. WHILST HAVING A GOOD TIME, CATCHING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, WE DECIDED TO RUN DOWN RIVER A LITTLE BIT AND SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON DOWN THERE. WELL, I RECKON I MUST TELL YOU SEATING ARRANGEMENT FIRST. I WAS IN THE BACK OF MY 12 JOHN BOAT, BY THE TROLLING MOTOR. HE WAS UP FRONT. THE WATER WAS HIGH AT THIS TIME OF YEAR CAUSE OF THE SPRING RAINS AND WE WERE FISHING IN THE SWAMP. LOTS OF GOOD FISHING WHERE THE BIG BOATS CAN'T GET INTO. IT WAS STILL COOL OUTSIDE YET. THE TEMPERATURE HADN'T MADE IT TO 70 DEGREES THAT DAY. ANYWAY, FIRST CAST I MADE WHEN WE GOT THERE HUNG UP ON A LOG, AND ALL I COULD SEE WAS A BOBBER STICKING UP FROM THE WATER. I TOLD MY BUDDY THAT I WANTED TO DRIVE THE BOAT UP AND LET HIM UNHANG IT FOR ME. HE SAID OKAY AND WE DID JUST THAT. WELL, AS I HIT THE TROLLING MOTOR FULL SPEED TO GET IT, ABOUT 10 FOOT FROM THE EDGE OF THE BANK, HE NOTICED A MOCCASIN IN THE TREE IN FRONT OF US. I HIT THE TROLLING MOTOR IN REVERSE BUT NO WAY WERE WE GOING TO BE ABLE TO STOP IN TIME TO KEEP FROM GETTING UNDER THAT TREE. MY BUDDY, BEING IN THE FRONT OF THAT BOAT, JUMPED UP, RUN BACK TO ME, LEANING ON MY SHOULDER TO KEEP FROM GETTING UNDER THAT SNAKE, DIDN'T REALIZE THAT I WASN'T GOING TO STAY IN THAT BOAT IF THE SNAKE DROPPED DOWN IN THERE WITH US. TRUE TO NATURE, THE SNAKE DROPPED RIGHT IN THERE AND I HEADED OUT!!!!!! TOSSING MY UNSUSPECTED PAL, INTO THE WATER WITH ME. THE BOAT ALMOST WENT ALONG FOR THE RIDE TO. ALL I SEEN WHEN I OPENED MY EYES UNDER WATER WAS PITCH BLACK AND A STUMP I ALMOST HIT HEAD ON WHEN I DOVE IN. I SWAM BACK ACROSS THE RIVER AND BY THE TIME I MADE IT TO SHORE, I HEARD UNCONTROLLABLE LAUGHTER COMING FROM BEHIND ME. MY BUDDY HAD GOTTEN BACK INTO THE BOAT WHEN HE SEEN THE SNAKE COME OUT OF IT AND GOT IT UNDER CONTROL. HE CAME OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER TO PICK ME UP, WHERE I STOOD ON A DOWNED CYPRESS LOG THAT WAS STICKING UP FROM THE WATER. WE LAUGHED SO HARD THAT IT TOOK ALMOST 20 MINUTES FOR US TO COLLECT OURSELVES ENOUGH TO GET INTO THE BOAT. WELL, YOU WOULD THINK THAT WAS ENOUGH FOR US TO HAVE HAD FOR THE DAY BUT AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, NOPE!!! HE GOT OUT OF THE BOAT TO LET ME IN. AS I WAS JUST ABOUT TO SIT DOWN IN THE SEAT, HE SET HIS FOOT IN THE BOAT, TIPPING IT SIDEWAYS A LITTLE, AND I FELL BACK OUT THE OTHER SIDE, UPSIDE DOWN. AGAIN, ANOTHER 20 MINUTES WENT BY BEFORE I COULD GET IN THE BOAT DUE TO LAUGHING SO HARD. THE WATER COULDN'T HAVE BEEN BUT 50 DEGREES, IF THAT. WE LOOKED AROUND AND FOUND THAT I HAD LOST MY GLASSES. 2 POLES WERE GONE FROM THE BOAT, AND HE COULDN'T FIND HIS HAT. WE COMMENCED TO SNAGGING FOR THE POLES WE LOST AND RETRIEVED ONE OF THEM. FINALLY, WE WERE GOING BACK TO THE LANDING AND ONCE ON LAND, I REALIZED I MUST HAVE HAD ABOUT A POUND OF SAND AND DIRT FROM THE WATER, ALONG WITH ABOUT 20 LEAVES IN MY PANTS. MY BUTTOCKS FELT LIKE THEY HAD SANDPAPER IN THEM. ANYWAY. I GOT THE TRUCK AND BROUGHT IT DOWN TO THE LITTLE CEMENT LANDING THAT WAS DOWN THERE TO PUT THE BOAT BACK ON TRAILER. JUST SO YALL KNOW, I HAVE A TILT TRAILER FOR THE BOAT SO ITS USUALLY EASY TO TAKE OFF AND GET IT BACK ON. WELL, MY TRAILER WENT A LITTLE TO FAR OFF THE CEMENT LANDING, SOMEONE HAD MADE YEARS AGO, AND WHEN I TRIED TO PULL IT UP FROM THE WATER TO LOCK IT DOWN AND STRAP THE BOAT DOWN, I HIT THE EDGE OF THAT RAMP AND IT KIND OF STRETCHED THE TRAILERS ADJUSTMENT SETTING AND IT WOULD NO LONGER LOCK DOWN. WE HAD TO TIE IT DOWN TO GET IT BACK TO HIS HOUSE. I LEFT IT THERE AND TOLD HIM THAT I WAS GOING HOME. THAT WAS ALL I COULD TAKE FOR THE DAY. I DIDN'T CARE IF THE POLES AND TACKLE BOXES STAYED IN THERE FOR YEARS AT THAT POINT. I GOT HOME AND HAD TO TAKE EVERYTHING OUT OF MY WALLET AND DRY IT OFF WITH A HAIR DRYER. THAT WAS STILL, TO THIS DAY, A GREAT DAY FISHING. MOSTLY CAUSE I HAD FUN AND LAUGHED WITH A GOOD FRIEND. I WILL REMEMBER IT FOREVER.
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