Close Call

After a few weeks’ hiatus from the crappie fishing, we did at Bear Butte Lake, I wanted to get out on it again with Aaron and hopefully see if they were still around. Fortunately, we had the same day off recently and we met again at the boat launch for another try at some crappie.

Well, as has been the case for most of this summer, the fishing was tough, with no crappies to be found anywhere along the weedy areas we hit. With a stiff breeze blowing us along at a good clip, we decided to try further east along the cattails and weeds to get out of the wind for a bit.

And weedy it was. Casting jigs and plastics or cranks was pretty useless with all the weeds we were in, so we switched to some topwater lures to see any pike or bass were hiding in them, but we still tossed out some minnows under bobbers into the pockets where there weren't any weeds.

Aaron managed to catch a catfish that dove into the weeds and brought back as much poundage in weeds that was equal to the size of the fish. With no rod holders, I'd figured my deadstick rod was safely pinned up into the nose of the boat as I stood up and was casting around the weeds, looking for pockets where a fish might be hiding.

No sooner had I made a cast then there was a violent crashing noise and movement around my knees. I looked down and my bobber rod had been pulled from its spot and the reel had gotten caught up on my seat with the rod bending to the point where the whole setup was going to be pulled into the water!

I quickly grabbed the butt of the rod and put my other one down and started to reel, my heart already racing from dang near losing my rod and brand new Piscifun reel. After a good fight, I reeled in a nice catfish. If it hadn't been for where I'd positioned my rod so that the reel would catch, I would have lost the whole setup!

I couldn't believe my luck. In the future, I'll make sure to secure the rod a bit better. It was one of those learning experiences where I thankfully didn’t lose anything, but the next time, things could be different. Unless I want to be one of those crazy people who dives in after a pole goes overboard (which I already know I'll do), I'll put a clamp on it next time.