In this pandemic time, folks are pretty well stressed out. Sometimes we just need time to relax and have a good laugh. This is the reason I want you to read my two-part column about one of my fishing trips on the Pee Dee River. I hope it makes your day a little more joyful and less stressful.
Y’all know I like to fish. Several years ago, a good friend and I took my new 12-foot boat over to the Pee Dee River to go fishing. I told my friend, “Let’s go up to Smith Lake.”
This is a lake that feeds off of the river. To get to the lake with a boat, you have to go through a small passageway of water that leads into the lake. A large storm had taken place a few days before and it so happened that a large tree log had fallen right across the passageway. How were we going to get into the lake? We figured the water was just low enough that if’n we could lean over far enough, our little boat would glide right under that log.
I was sitting in the front of the boat and I leaned backwards as far as I could to get under the log. Just about the time we started under the log, a rather large bobcat came out of nowhere. He leaped up on the log which was right above my head. Why, I was so close to that bobcat I could count the fleas on his belly.
Then that old cat had gall enough to raise his upper lip and show me them teeth of his. Now folks, if that won’t make you check your britches, taking a dose of laxatives won’t help you a bit. Saying this was a gonna hurt wouldn’t have done ‘nary bit of good. I figured I was headed for the Pearly Gates right then and there. But you know as I’ve said before, “the Good Lord looks after fools and mules.” Why, somehow that big bobcat just disappeared, and we just glided right under that log. You can bet your bottom dollar we didn’t look back either.
Finally, we got to our fishing hole and started getting our rod and reels ready. I wanted to catch myself a trophy bass. To do this, I had brought my new 808 Zebco spinning reel, spooled with a quarter-mile of 113-pound test monofilament Stren line, and it was bolted onto a 12-foot Bass Pro graphite heavy duty rod. I then tied on the biggest plug I had in my tackle box, which happened to be a 10-inch Broken-back Rebel plug, with nine treble hooks attached to it. I had caught a lot of big bass on this here plug and I always tried to be very careful not to lose it.
No sooner had I got that Rebel plug tied on before a big bass swirled right behind a large stump not far from our boat. Why, I bet that Cyprus stump was four foot across. Well, I drew back with that 12-foot heavy-duty rod, hoping to deliver that 10-inch Rebel plug right into that big bass’s mouth. There just so happened to be just enough wind blowing that there 113-pound Stren line carried that 10-inch Rebel plug right across the top of that big old stump.
Now I was in a predicament. How was I gonna get that plug out from around that big stump? Should I just row over there and get my plug or should I just flip the line off the stump? Well, I never did like to spook a fish, so I gave a big yank on that heavy-duty rod, hoping to pull that 10-inch Rebel plug with them nine treble hooks over the top of the stump. I be dog-gone if’n them hooks didn’t hang that big stump as dead as John Brown’s body.
Well that kinda ticked me off, so I gave another big yank, and that big stump started coming up. All of a sudden I noticed the water level in the lake a falling. I eased back on pulling and the water level came back up. I tried that several times with the water level going up and down, up and down. Well, I knew this won’t ‘gonna work, so I just rowed over there and took out my Swiss Army knife and sawed that big stump right off clean with the water level and got my Rebel plug.
Next week we will continue with this fishing excursion on the mighty Pee Dee. Find out whether or not I caught that trophy bass and will that flea-bitten bobcat reappear? Until then, please stay safe.
J. A. Bolton is author of “Just Passing Time,” co-author of “Just Passing Time Together,” and his newly released book “Southern Fried.”
