ack in the 1980's I was married to a woman named Barb. She came from a family that loved to fish and I was fortunate that she did too. In the later 1980's I purchased my first boat that I didn't have to paddle. It was a Bass Tracker panfisherman, with a 25 hp Mercury outboard. It had a unique stick steering on it, where the driver sat in the front section of the boat and there was a stick/lever control on the left side that you used to steer the boat with. It was a fun little boat with a livewell right in the middle of the boat between the front and rear seats. The livewell had a cushioned top that doubled as another seat. Now Barb enjoyed this boat as well and often accompanied me out on my fishing outings. One spring evening ( back before Grand lake was such a mess) we went out to crappie fish at GLSM , which was just down the block from our house. We launched the boat at the sailboat club because it was just across a short bay to a stone pier behind the park office that we were going to fish. We often fished until dark and this made it easy to get back in with the ramp close by. The crappie were biting really well that evening and we were getting a nice mess in the livewell. Have you ever wondered how your line, or anchor rope will magicially just get a knot in it without any reason for it. Well Barb holds her pole up to me and points at her line. There is a knot in my line just above the cork. Well the fish were biting and I didn't want to take the time to retie it. Don't worry about it I told her , it will be fine. Now I was still a young man back then and had not yet accepted the fact that Murphy's law was to be my constant companion for life!! So Barb makes another cast and it is not long and she gets a bite, the cork goes down and she sets the hook. SNAP!! of course the line breaks, just above the cork where the knot was at. As you can guess I had to hear I told you so and as any married man can tell you I heard it a number of times the rest of the evening. I got her set back up and continued fishing. Luckily for me she caught alot of other crappies that evening , so at least I didn't lose her only fish. We decided to quit alittle before dark this time because we already had a big mess of fish to take home and clean. So I started the outboard up and turned the boat toward the bay that we had to cross and then I seen it, ( back then I had eagle eyes). Barb look , do you see it out in the bay. What? I don't see anything she said. Out there about 100 yards, I say, that orange out there I think it is a cork. So I buzz over to it and as I get closer I see the cork is moving. Can it be? I get next to it and make a grab at it, but the cork goes under before I can get it. RATS!!! But it comes right back up and I lunge for it and this time I grab it and get it on board all intact. Barb's cork,her jig and most important the big slab crappie that broke her line. REDEMPTION !! HOW SWEET! I am sure that I had to hear from time to time about how I didn't fix her line and it broke, but at least I could say I got it all back for her. I did learn a lesson here though and that is to take the time and retie your line, it is not worth the risk of losing a nice fish. |