One call does it all......not Domino's but a fishing call that is. It was a quiet Sunday afternoon here at home, my wife and I were taking it easy, I was tying a few flies. Our oldest son Ben was away in Ohio on a summer missions trip with our church, and our other son Josh was headed to youth group. Then the phone rang. It was our Men's ministry pastor Rick Trautman, and he had one question...."want to go fishing?" It didn't take too much more than that to get me going, I replied..."..sure." He said, "we can take the boat over to Lake Higgins for a few hours, or maybe hit a pond or something. What about that pond at your place?" I immediately replied, "...that sounds great, lets try the pond at my place."
I then said goodbye and put the finishing touches on a bee popper I had been tying. I stopped before I was finished and started gathering stuff- - - my fanny pack and rods-- and insect repellent- - -never forget that in summer- - -and after about 15 minutes of wandering around getting those things together I sat back down at my tying table and finished off the soft bodied bee popper. Just as the last turn of the whip finisher took place, Rick walked in front of the window and I knew it was time to go.
We grabbed our stuff and headed over to the pond. It is so great to have a great spot within a couple hundred yards of our home in the woods in Summerfield, NC. Not only is it close, it has some huge fish. After about 45 minutes of fishing, we worked our way around to the east side of the pond, a great hotspot that has a knack of giving up some huge bass. My oldest son Ben had caught a 1o.5 pound largemouth last year in the very spot Rick cast. I heard him exclaim, "....got one" ...then I saw the deeply arched rod and heard the reel's drag start to sing a sweet tune as the giant bass struggled for its freedom. About ten seconds into the struggle there was a large surface boil, and a monstrous splash as the 10 pound plus bass leaped from the water, and then landed with a thundering splash that sounded as if someone had catapulted a watermelon from the bank into the pond. The fish buried itself in the grass, Rick must have held on for over 5 minutes as the giant bass just sat there. He kept steady pressure, then tried giving slack line in hopes of it swimming out of the grass and breaking free where the fight could be brought to a close. The fish did nothing but lie there. Then back with steady pressure and a steady but precise pull Rick started putting pressure on the fish. It began to move, then move a little more, and we both were sweating knowing that the line had to be near its breaking strength. Thank goodness for good line and great knots, they both held as victory and a landed trophy hung in the balance.
Rick gently steered the giant fish to his feet along with lots of grass, and when he lipped the fish and held it up I was literally stunned. My heart was pounding in my chest.....so much so I could hear it. I think his was doing much the same. It was the largest bass of his fishing career, and Rick is an avid fisherman. That is saying a lot, and it was a true trophy moment for sure.
I ran back to the house for the camera and photo card, snapped in the card, then hurried back to the pond while Rick held the fish in the water. When I returned we snapped several photos and then Rick released the large fish gently back to its watery domain. We both sat there, still somewhat stunned at it all.
What a great afternoon.... and what a huge fish. What an incredible thing when a giant fish decides to eat.......and what an even more incredible thing to be tied to the thing it decides to eat! Congrats Rick on your trophy.....I am envious!
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