“Not A Bad Night Of Fishing”
Bobby, David, Mike, and I decided to go fishing one summer’s night on Norris Lake in Tennessee. The day had been hot; which meant numerous boaters/skiers had been on the lake all day, stirring up the mud/debris along the shore-line. Experience had taught us that one of the best times to fish Norris Lake was in the late evening following a day of such activity as it seemed to cause the fish to be in a “feeding frenzy” due to all of the stuff that had washed into the water during the day. It was, also, a “waxing moon” as the light from the moon would be bright, enabling fishing without having to worry about being able to see without too much added light. In other words, it was a perfect time to go fishing.
We launched the boats around 8:30 PM. Bobby and David were brother-in-law, best friends, and partners in the ownership of their boat; thus, they were going to fish together. Mike and I were to be fishing from Mike’s boat. We agreed to fish near to each other, without crowding each other. Both of us were going to be focusing on bass. The lures of choice were to be doll-flies tipped with pork-chunks, or plastic worms rigged “Texas style”. We would be off the shore-line in the boats, casting towards the shore-line, working the lures as they fell along the banks. We chose banks with rock out-croppings, stumps, downed trees, and so forth as we knew fish like to troll such areas in search of food.
Before long we began to catch fish. Each of the four of us were having luck. The bass (both small-mouth and large-mouth) were hitting. We were stocking the “live-wells” of the boats. It seemed as though most of the fish were around 2 lbs., with a couple reaching the 4 lbs. size. At about midnight Mike and David decided they needed to go home, since both had to be at work early the following morning. Bobby and I decided that we wanted to stay longer, fishing some more. So we switched things around as I moved to Bobby’s boat and David joined Mike for their return to the boat-ramp from which we had launched earlier. We put most of the fish (12 total) that had been caught in Mike’s live-well in order for David and Mike to take care of and get them on ice less they spoil. Bobby and I bid them “farewell” and returned to fishing.
We found the fish to still be in a “hungry way”, as we both continued to catch some. Bobby, being a better fisherman than I, managed to catch a couple of small-mouths that were larger than 4 lbs. to put in the live-well. I caught some that were around 2 lbs., or thereabouts. Finally, we decided to call it quits about 3:30 AM. In order to take care of the fish (cleaning/filleting/prepping for eating) we figured that I could place them in my garage, in a cooler, covered with ice, and he would assist me with the work later that day. So, that is what we did.
I went to bed at about 5:00 AM. However, I was too keyed-up to go to sleep. As I tossed and turned, trying to get settled, I made a decision as to what I was going to do once the day got started.
At 8:00 AM I showed up at the offices of the local newspaper with a request. The editor was a friend of mine. He agreed that my idea was a good one. Therefore, when the paper was published and distributed the following Thursday there was a 4”x6” photo of me holding up a stringer of 12 small-mouth and large-mouth bass. Naturally, I claimed to have caught ALL of the fish. I was grinning from ear to ear as I held up the four that I had caught and the eight that Bobby had caught, including those two that were more than 4 lbs. each. The caption above the photo read, “Not A Bad Night Of Fishing”. Beneath the photo the editor included quotes from me about my adventure and what a masterful fisherman I happen to be.
You can only imagine the reaction from folks as they saw the photo and read the quotes. With my tongue planted firmly in my cheek, I would respond to their verbal jabs by saying, “It was not a bad night of fishing”.