Cabin Fever-Fishing is the Answer

It was a snow less winter in the bay area of northern California and I just recently noticed that I had just become a vegetable. I was only going outdoors to take care of the dogs, thrash and morning newspaper for what seemed like months. I had all the tell tale symptoms of restlessness, running legs, irritability, surfing the TV and internet and lack of air. I had CABIN FEVER. The only cure for me was to go FISHING in the great outdoors. I thought about my options and decided to go to a local lake since the weather was colder than normal dropping below freezing too often and the short window of daylight. I picked a small lake about 10 minutes away on a week day to reduce the traffic and more peaceful surroundings of Mother Nature. I arrived around 9:30 in the morning and it was sunny but with a stiff wind bending the trees and making small white caps on the water surface. I parked close to the water and meet some local fishermen who were familiar with the setup. We talked for awhile discussing all the important points about the lake such as hours, rules, bait, best times to fish, what fish are caught and where to fish. The man on the other end of the pier got a bite and lost a catfish before he could set the hook. That was encouraging since the fish were active and I hoped for the same. I got my gear together with some food and drink and started to walk around the south shore line to pick a spot to fish. I stopped at several places but they were too weedy and exposed to the weather and not good this day. I finally saw an alcove that was alee and without much algae so I set up my gear. I baited my hooks and cast the two lines in the water since I had purchased a second pole license. Not long after casting I got a small bite then a real good strike and of course I was winding the other line when it happened and I was late in setting it and I lost it in the algae after a few seconds of playing it. I quickly rebaited and cast again into the same spot and waited. Soon after I heard this loud thump and instantly shrugged my shoulders to protect myself. As I turned around I saw that a large eucalyptus branch had been blown down by the gusting winds and had landed about 8’ directly behind me. The limb was about 12-15’ long with a 2-3” girth that would have put a big hurt on me. I had just walked over that exact spot a few minutes ago where the limb had landed. I looked around the grove and saw several eucs badly damaged by previous winds that were susceptible too falling limb syndrome. I quickly packed up and carefully moved to a safer place away from the potential disaster. A short time later another fisherman was thinking of that spot but I informed him of what had happened and he thanked me and headed off to a different place. I enjoyed the rest of the day; even though I never landed a fish but was aware that timing is everything. If I would have taken a little bite longer walking the shore I could have been a victim to an unpredictable accident and probably sever drama. Boy oh boy I decided don’t temp fate and leave while I’m ahead. Today ”every second counts” takes on a new meaning. You can never tell until it‘s over.

Source: www.mintarticles.com

Author: Randy Lawrence
webmaster OJT