It's Quite A Rush

[BilletHead]

It's quite a rush,

To get up at 3:30 AM to head to your favorite fishing spot to be where you want to be at day break. Eat your cereal, drink your coffee on the road to not waste time. Watching the side of the road for deer ready to step in the road. Caffeine taking effect helping reaction time.

It's quite a rush,

To be running the boat and it is so dark all you can see is the reflection of a hint of starlight and horizon starting to lighten the water. Only way you know where the bank is the reflection stops. No fog this morning but the past two days fog made this run worse. Knowing the way by counting the places where you turn and trying to remember each log that is in its place of rest.

It's quite a rush,

To have counted the last turn and know you are about to be at your place of choice, you listen and peer into the approaching daylight for sounds of fish and water being torn up.. You drop your anchor and wait, more watching and listening trying to have patience waiting for your quarry. Having your wife who happens to be your best friend by your side.

It's quite a rush to see shad being blown out of the water and flushed onto the bank by it's prey. Hearing gulps and slurping as the shad are being devoured. You shake as you try to strip out fly line so that you can cast. In your rush to do so you tangle line in the bottom of the boat. You must hurry because these very few blitzes of fury will only last seconds or may never happen at all or happen only once during a trip. You commit to the cast, put the popper on the spot. The fish hit and my blow your popper out of the water three times before he gets it to the point he has decided to eat it. When he does chaos ensues. The fish makes a lightning run, you excess fly line slips through your fingers sometimes burning as it does. You hope and pray there isn't any unruly coils to impede the fish run. As the slack hits the reel in a snap the drag kicks in and begins to whine. The fish makes a run away and then toward you. I can tell you this happens so fast the line goes slack., you can't reel fast enough to keep the line tight and again you hope the hook barb has driven it's way deep enough to hold tight. You fight until you and the fish are spent,

It's quite a rush to have your net man, oops NET LADY scoop up the beast you have just won the battle with and as you admire your catch and well fought battle you temporary forget the days of no shad, no shad means no predators to fish after. The early mornings, the evenings you went to bed at 7:30 PM to get much needed rest. The money you spend in gas for your ride on the pavement and water.

It's quite a rush,

to have fooled this fish on a balsa popper you carved, sanded, painted and created,

It's quite a rush to thank your maker for the morning you have just had.

By 8:00 it's all over and you both have missed another opportunity to hook one. Then before it just got started you are on your way back to the ramp, truck and trailer and on your way home as folks are just launching for their day on the water. They ask did you have any luck? We respond we had a wonderful morning. Have you been running lines is their next question? No we just went for a long boat ride to see the sun rise. They look at you like your nuts. Perhaps we are a bit off kilter for what we do?

BilletHead

PS we don't keep many hybrids as we like to have another chance to catch them, todays fish was an exception as he was invited to dinner

[Flysmallie]

Awesome! Sweet looking popper too.

[BilletHead]

Thanks Ronnie,

Check these out. Been catching on all models. Single hook, treble hook, one prop, two props of no prop at all. Those fish love them. Keeping the color simple like a shad, who doesn't like a shad?

BilletHead

[Guest]

deleted

[Flysmallie]

Those are beautiful.

[Feathers and Fins]

Very Nice.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Great post!

[Gavin]

Good for you! looks like an awesome trip!

[Njardar]

Loved the post.

[Terrierman]

Great post. Those poppers are really art, with function. Very cool.