Fishing with Miles- Part 2

At about 6:00, we decided to head to Blue Springs Lake so try and find some suspended fish and hopefully take turns throwing flies at shad that were getting chased to the surface by white bass and hybrids/wipers.  It didn't take long before Miles caught a small channel cat on a rat-l-trap and a bluegill shortly thereafter.  We both got a kick out of these fish hitting such a lure and we were having as much fun as we were at Legacy.  I was grateful that we didn't leave fish to go find fish and then regret our decision.  

We started marking fish off the dam in 14 feet of water with my fish finder and I started jigging a spoon on a medium action spinning rod.  I had some success with this technique last summer and was hoping to teach Miles how to work a spoon on this occasion as well.  After a little bit of a drought, I decided that there was no reason to let our shiners go to waste so I put one on my spoon.  I didn't know if this was an actual, proven method but I thought if a spoon works, wouldn't live bait make it better?  It didn't.  My bait came off in the jigging process.  I then decided to abandon the spoon in favor of a simpler hook and sinker setup.  

We then started marking more fish further off the dam in 17 feet of water and some of them appeared to be pretty big!  It didn't take long before I hooked and landed a small white bass and Miles asked me if he should switch to live bait.  My answer was a pretty emphatic, YES!

While we were zeroing in on bigger fish and smaller baitfish, I also landed a drum.  He fought really hard and was a lot of fun to land.  It was at this point that Miles and I had a lengthy discussion as to why drum get such a bad name and why folk should just enjoy catching them.  Not too long after the drum, things started to get serious.

We found a consistent area where fish seemed to be actively feeding on bait about 8-14 feet deep.  The temperature was starting to drop, dark clouds were appearing to the west, and it was getting close to an hour before sundown.  The "magic hour" was upon us and the enthusiasm could almost be felt in the air around the boat.  That's when Miles hooked into a fish...a VERY big fish.

He was fishing with a medium-light action spinning rod that was paired with 8 pound line.  Immediately after setting the hook, the fish started peeling line.  I quickly reeled in my rod to avoid any mishaps and manned the trolling motor of the small boat.  I tried to keep the fish in front of us but had to continually maneuver to the left and right because this thing was all over the place.  Neither one of us knew what he had hooked into, but we new it was big!  The fish never surfaced during the fight so we started to guess that he had hooked a wiper/hybrid or a catfish.  Catfish had recently been caught at the dam on live bait, but this fish seemed to use its power rather than its weight to fight.  I started to think that he hooked a hybrid/wiper but I wasn't the one holding the rod and I am by no means an expert on this matter.

While we are on the topic of expertise, I would be remiss if I did not mention Miles's incredible display of skill that he showed while fighting this fish.  At no time during the fight did I have to mention to increase drag, decrease drag, apply more pressure, apply less pressure, reel more, reel less, or anything else that it takes to land a big fish on light tackle.  Whether Miles instinctively knew what to do or was taught this skill at some other point in his life is still not abundantly clear to me, what I do know is that this young man has some serious prowess.  

Another fact that is worth mentioning is that we enjoyed every single second of this fight.  There was laughter, looks of concern, oohs, aahs, more laughter, backslaps, hoots and hollers.  We must have made enough noise to get the attention of other boats because they started to carefully watch us with a lot of interest.  Finally, after what seemed like 10 minutes, we got our first look at the creature.  A flash of white body and black stripes confirmed that Miles had hooked into a LARGE hybrid/wiper.  While the fight had been amazing up to this point, the surfacing of the fish seemed to trigger a halfway point to the fight because the fish seemed to figure out what was going on at this point and made a couple more prolific runs.

Towards the end of the fight, you could tell the fish was tiring and about ready to be landed.  Ironically, while we were outlining the details of our trip on the phone, Miles asked if he should bring a net.  I said yes because I always forget mine.  Thankfully, Miles brought a net because I forgot mine.  Unfortunately, it was only a trout net and not big enough for this behemoth.  I told him that it wasn't going to fit and again, Miles showed some deft and cunning.  He said, "Just get his head in the net."  Duh!  Why didn't I think of that?  Stupid endorphins clouding my judgement!

On the first netting attend, the great beast took off like a shot but didn't have the energy to continue its run.  Miles coaxed it back toward the boat and I netted it head-first and got it over the side of the boat as quick as I could.  We high-fived, laughed, gave a collective sigh of relief, and marveled at the size of the fish.  We decided to land the boat on the rocks on the dam and collect ourselves.  When everything was said and done, Miles landed a hybrid/wiper that went 27 inches long with a 19 and 1/2 inch girth and tipped the scales at over 10 and 1/2 pounds.

To say that I am in awe of this young man's skill and amazed by his abilities would be a gross understatement.  There aren't a lot of people his age that would have landed that fish but Miles displayed an aptitude that seems well beyond his years of age.  I am incredibly grateful to have shared this moment with him and so happy that he caught such a trophy fish.  It's also interesting to think back to all of the little things that had to happen to make this moment possible.  We both talked about how this memory would have never happened if I hadn't run into his dad, if he hadn't replied to my message I sent him about getting together, if we hadn't left Legacy, if I hadn't picked up some shiners, if we hadn't had a fish finder, if Miles hadn't brought a net, and that we had the right equipment (and knots for that matter) to allow that fish to be hooked and eventually landed.  It's pretty amazing if you think about it.

Anyway, the evening started to draw to an end and after I landed one more white bass, we saw lightning on the horizon.  Miles's mom met us at the boat ramp and we replayed the story again for her and showed off the prize.  Miles's mom was very grateful that I took him out but I tried to express an equal amount if not more gratitude.  I was able to share a memory with an amazing young man while doing what we both love.  What could be better than that?  Sometimes I think that fishing is like the hokey pokey in the sense of "That's what it's all about!"