Mickey
06-29-2010, 10:39 AM
A wise man once said something about even the best layed plans going array. Well that pretty much sums up my fishing experience at the Charlotte stop.
It all started well enough with me getting off work thursday night at 1145. I hauled some serious behind making my way to knoxville to meet Donnie and WillyD. Got there about 215 and we all shook on it and headed down I-40 on a mission. By 530a we were in the neighborhood of some of the water we wanted to see so we bought a few maps and went about scouting. I suppose it was about 1245p when we found the most beautiful stretch of river you could imagine. Decided that was all we needed to see, this water would be the scene of a black bass slaughter at our hands. The things I saw made my SWEET! meter shoot off the charts. Knowing that catching fish wasnt going to be an issue we headed to BPS which was no less than an hour and fifteen minute drive. Got to see all the regulars and a few new faces which is always a highlight. We arrived back at our hotel ready to rock and roll in the A.M..
The morning went off without incident and we had my truck at the take-out before 515a. Standing at the P/I waiting on safe light at 535a. The excitement was palpable. All of a sudden Will says "Hey, this doesnt look the same!" It was at that moment that we witnessed what could only be described as Hersheys Swift River! Apparently while we were at BPS there was a brief cloud burst in the area upstream of our Dreamy Hungry-PigFish River! Well that little shower turned it into chocolate milk and raised it a bit. We put in and went about our business anyways. To my surprise within 20 casts I was the proud owner of a picture. In that picture was a beautiful 13" LMBass. So Im thinking this might be a good day in spite of the unsavory water. Over the course of the next 9 hours I am certain that I nearly suffered a heat stroke, portaged through an obstacle course which included a 24" wide cat-walk and a 60 yard uphill gravel drag of the yak , and the worst of all I made hundreds and hundreds of casts with no bites whatsoever.
At 230p I could see the take out and I was in a little better water with much more structure. As I had done 500 times this cursed day I casted my "Mini-me" to the edge of a long rip. Of course I wasnt expecting a bite and then, BOOOOMMMM! My spinner gets freight-trained. Regretfully in my lethargic, quasi-heat stroke state I didnt get a good hook set. The beast turned toward me and ran an olympic sprinter type run directly toward my kayak. I struggled to keep up and remove the slack. At last I could feel his weight solidly on the end of my line. Thinking that my first hook-set was insufficient I gave the rod another solid tug. It was at this moment that the Bronzeback River Beast decided he no longer wanted to participate in my game. He exploded from the surface of the river clearing the water by no less than 8". Before I could jam my rod into the water my "Mini-Me" was laying on the front hatch cover of my kayak. It was at this very instant I emotionally checked out and conceded defeat! Indescribable. Weve all been there and can empathize. Nothing, speechless, HeartBroken.
It all started well enough with me getting off work thursday night at 1145. I hauled some serious behind making my way to knoxville to meet Donnie and WillyD. Got there about 215 and we all shook on it and headed down I-40 on a mission. By 530a we were in the neighborhood of some of the water we wanted to see so we bought a few maps and went about scouting. I suppose it was about 1245p when we found the most beautiful stretch of river you could imagine. Decided that was all we needed to see, this water would be the scene of a black bass slaughter at our hands. The things I saw made my SWEET! meter shoot off the charts. Knowing that catching fish wasnt going to be an issue we headed to BPS which was no less than an hour and fifteen minute drive. Got to see all the regulars and a few new faces which is always a highlight. We arrived back at our hotel ready to rock and roll in the A.M..
The morning went off without incident and we had my truck at the take-out before 515a. Standing at the P/I waiting on safe light at 535a. The excitement was palpable. All of a sudden Will says "Hey, this doesnt look the same!" It was at that moment that we witnessed what could only be described as Hersheys Swift River! Apparently while we were at BPS there was a brief cloud burst in the area upstream of our Dreamy Hungry-PigFish River! Well that little shower turned it into chocolate milk and raised it a bit. We put in and went about our business anyways. To my surprise within 20 casts I was the proud owner of a picture. In that picture was a beautiful 13" LMBass. So Im thinking this might be a good day in spite of the unsavory water. Over the course of the next 9 hours I am certain that I nearly suffered a heat stroke, portaged through an obstacle course which included a 24" wide cat-walk and a 60 yard uphill gravel drag of the yak , and the worst of all I made hundreds and hundreds of casts with no bites whatsoever.
At 230p I could see the take out and I was in a little better water with much more structure. As I had done 500 times this cursed day I casted my "Mini-me" to the edge of a long rip. Of course I wasnt expecting a bite and then, BOOOOMMMM! My spinner gets freight-trained. Regretfully in my lethargic, quasi-heat stroke state I didnt get a good hook set. The beast turned toward me and ran an olympic sprinter type run directly toward my kayak. I struggled to keep up and remove the slack. At last I could feel his weight solidly on the end of my line. Thinking that my first hook-set was insufficient I gave the rod another solid tug. It was at this moment that the Bronzeback River Beast decided he no longer wanted to participate in my game. He exploded from the surface of the river clearing the water by no less than 8". Before I could jam my rod into the water my "Mini-Me" was laying on the front hatch cover of my kayak. It was at this very instant I emotionally checked out and conceded defeat! Indescribable. Weve all been there and can empathize. Nothing, speechless, HeartBroken.