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This was our first bass fishing trip together. We had been
crappie fishing and cat fishing, but this was totally different.
We were only using artificials, something that she was not
accustomed to.
It was an early morning in April and I was about to take my wife
Wendy on a fishing trip that she and I would never forget.
We both got up around 6 a.m. and loaded my 10ft Pelican Bass
boat onto my truck. I could see that she was full
of anticipation about the day we were about to embark on. The
place we were headed was full of very good bass. I knew that she
would enjoy herself, but what I didn’t realize is that she would
catch the fish of a lifetime.
So we headed to the little 5-acre private pond and launched our
boat. The fog was still on the water and the fish were eager to
cooperate right on schedule. Being an inexperienced baitcaster,
I had a feeling that she might need a little help. Boy was I
ever so wrong! She made cast after cast without a hitch. She
caught a couple of nice bass and her eyes lit up like a kid in a
candy store.
I had been
working with Wendy a little in our yard, having her cast into
5-gallon bucket and teaching her the basics. I even tried to
make it fun by filling up a small bowl with water and having a
little contest. She picked up the technique really fast and when
she hit the bowl you would think she had just caught a “fat
daddy 10 lb bucket-mouth”. I was truly amazed at how quickly she
caught on to the concept. So now the "trash talking" began. I
would make it into the bowl and then she would make it. So for
around an hour we went back and forth casting into the bowl.
It was this
practice that prepared Wendy for her first day of bass fishing.
She fished like a pro without any hesitation. Throughout the
day, we kept on catching good bass but we still hadn’t found the
proverbial mother-load yet. As the day went on she was more and
more relaxed and even more confident in her new found ability.
The fishing started to slow down a bit and just when I thought
Wendy would be getting bored she unleashed her second wind. She
had asked me to move the boat closer to this shore line area
near a man-made dam. So without question, I did. I made a good
cast into an area and landed a really nice 3lb bass within
minutes. Meanwhile, Wendy had made the best cast of her life
right up against the bank. She had switched tactics on me. She
was fishing a green watermelon Tiki worm, Texas-rigged. But it
wasn’t so much the lure she was fishing; it was how she was
fishing it. She was dead sticking the bait. She would cast this
Tiki worm out and just let it sit there. Just as she got ready
to reel it in to make another cast “bam” there it was!
She told me
she was hung up and needed help, so I coached her on how to get
what appeared to be a tree limb free from her line. The tree
limb broke lose and was coming towards the boat. As it got
closer, I noticed a white belly under this tree limb. At this
point, it wasn’t fighting at all. Once the fish realized it was
hooked, the line started moving and Wendy got really excited.
Her eyes were as big as one of Tiger Woods golf balls, and I
have to admit mine were too. Her rod bent over as if she was
hooked into Moby Dick. I had just passed that rod and reel on to
her the week before this trip. She kept pressure on the fish and
worked it closer to the boat. Just as it got closer it made
another attempt to swim deeper. All I could think about was her
line breaking or if she playing the fish right. I kept on
telling her “don’t lose it baby… don’t lose her” The way I was
acting you would have swore that I was the one with the monster
bass. I was honestly a nervous wreck.
Wendy kept her
cool through all the excitement and played the bass back to the
boat like she was Kevin Van Dam in the Bassmasters Classic. This
time, she won. The fish finally surfaced and I about fell out of
the boat with excitement. I was shaking and nervous, she was
shaking and I was totally beside myself at that point. I was
also kind of bragging a little bit because she caught it with
the rod that I passed on to her. My wife had just caught her 1st
big Largemouth Bass with me; an 8 1/2 pounder! Once we got the
fish in the boat Wendy finally got to put her hands on it. She
held the fish up for pictures and you could tell that she would
never forget this day. The joy in her eyes was priceless, but
the joy I felt of introducing a new angler to this wonderful
sport will last a lifetime.
Since that
trip we have been on several fishing adventures together. We
always try to make it fun and we always give our trip a
tournament type feel. She is also my biggest fan as I fish the
Toyota Tundra Bassmasters Weekend Series. Wendy had the chance
to be an observer during one of my tournaments on High Rock Lake
in North Carolina. Since then she has been hooked on the
tournament fishing side of bass fishing. She is considering
fishing the tour herself in 2008. I have to say that I did not
expect to have that much of an impact, but I am happy that she
has found solace in something like fishing. She also became a
member of the Federation Nation Bass Club I started. She is the
Secretary/Treasurer. She joined The Bass Anglers Sportsman
Society and reads every issue.
The moral of
this story is simple. It’s our job to introduce as many new
members as possible to fishing and the outdoors. This sport is
funny in a way, because it turns grown men into little boys and
women into little girls all over again. When we are out on the
water we can find a little peace from an otherwise very busy
world. No computers, no cell phones and no meetings; just you
and the fish doing battle on God’s grand stage.
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