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Spring Fishing Trip
When
I was recovering from my recent surgery, my friends at SUPERVALU,
who work in Retail Technology for the Midwest Region, pooled their money
and purchased a gift certificate from Bass Pro Shops for me. Anticipating
a spring fishing trip back to a lake in Alabama, I spent almost one-third
of the gift certificate for top water lures and used the rest to purchase
a pair of boots that were on clearance. Top water baits had produced good
results in two different Alabama lakes for the past two years, and I decided
the gift certificate would be more than sufficient to restock my tackle box
for another fishing trip.
Lee Gordon of West Point, MS, has been able to get permission for our foursome
to fish on properties owned or leased by Mossy Oak, a corporation headed
by Toxey Haas, a member of the church where Lee serves as Minister of Music.
Other members of our group include Gordon Sansing of Forest, MS, and Jim
Hess of Vicksburg, MS. Lee and Jim are the official fish-cleaners for the
group and Gordon is often asked to bring his fishing boat so that we are
able to fish comfortably with two persons per boat. I always gather up the
food we’ll be eating and help with the cooking. Lee tells folks the
only reason they keep inviting me along is because I bring such good food.
I’m sure that’s not the only reason, but at least it gives Lee
something with which to "gig" me.
As luck would have it, the four of us managed to find an open weekend in
our May schedules. But, since it was the weekend of Mother’s Day, Gordon
had to leave Friday afternoon to prepare for a houseful of mothers Saturday
and Sunday. Lee, Jim, and I fished until mid-morning on Saturday before breaking
early for the weekend.
As planned, the four of us met on Thursday afternoon to fish the lake at
the Shumula Lodge near Livingston, AL. Gordon and I were fishing before 2:00
p.m. Lee arrived around three-thirty, and Jim got there about an hour after
that. Both Lee and Jim had commitments at their respective churches that
prevented them from leaving until after lunch.
I would have thought that getting a head start would have made it possible
for Gordon and me to catch more fish than Jim and Lee, but they caught more
than twice as many as we caught, though I think ours were larger. I fished
most of Thursday afternoon with one of my new top water baits, and the fish
I caught on my new lures were larger than the average one we boated using
plastic worms.
Fishing was slow in that Gordon and I worked hard to catch two stringers
of fish, though it could be we were not fishing in the right part of the
lake. Lee and Jim had better success in the shallow end of the lake fishing
along the edges of a submerged creek bank. About one-forth of the more than
fifty acres of water is in flooded timber, and it is extremely difficult
to cast a lure more than twenty yards. It seemed most of the fish interested
in our baits were concentrated in the areas that were the hardest to
fish.
We were all disappointed that the fish we caught were smaller than those
we caught two years ago and were perplexed as to how such a fabulous lake
two years earlier could have declined so much so soon. However, we were told
to keep all the fish we caught that weighed two pounds and under. As it turned
out, we were able to keep every fish we caught. At the end of the day on
Friday, Lee said he and Jim had cleaned 220 fish, all of which were
bass.
One might think it would take a long time to clean such a large number of
fish, but fish cleaning has come a long way since I first learned how to
dress fish as a teenager. I was taught to club the fish, which served to
either kill it or stun it so it didn't flop around while being scaled. Once
scaled, the head of the fish was removed first, then the entrails. At some
point in my teenage years I became proficient at filleting fish, but years
would pass before I learned to use an electric knife to filet
fish.
Lee Gordon is an expert when it comes to filleting fish with an electric
knife. I've not timed him, but I imagine he can clean a small bass in fifteen
seconds or less, once he gets limbered up. Jim Hess is pretty good, too,
but he's no match for Lee.
Shumula has two fishable lakes, a large one and a small one. The large one
is full of small fish and the small lake is full of large fish. Lee, Jim,
and I fished the small lake for a few hours Saturday morning, but we didn’t
catch any big fish, and having plenty of bass we didn’t keep any fish
except the few bream that Lee caught.
The Haas’s actually reside in West Point but enjoy spending time in
the country, and have a more than comfortable home in the country that doubles
as a lodge for hunters much of the year, with six bedrooms and three baths.
A recent addition to the house includes a huge master bedroom with three
walls almost entirely of glass, and a screened in patio with a grand fireplace
to ward off the chill of sitting outdoors in cool weather. The kitchen is
filled with convenience appliances, including a microwave, a built-in double
oven, range, dishwasher, and Jenn Air grill nestled in the kitchen’s
island. For a lodge, it’s above average, and for a second home, it’s
top-notch. Having spent a few days there, it’s easy to understand why
the Haas's make the hour-plus drive to Shumula as often as
possible.
I think everyone in our group would have loved a longer stay, but our schedules
would not permit the indulgence, plus, as I mentioned, it was the weekend
of Mother's Day. Gordon mentioned he thought it would be nice to spend a
week fishing at a more leisurely pace. Instead of fishing for hours on end,
he suggested a routine of early morning fishing, followed by lunch and rest
until late afternoon, then finishing the day on the water. It surely sounded
good to me, and maybe for our next outing Gordon's wish can be accommodated.
Note: Photo associated with this article was found on the Internet. Any
resemblance is coincidental.
Family
Gathering Dinner In Belmont
The weekend of Mother's Day was a busy weekend. I wrapped up a three-day
fishing trip Saturday morning and was back home before two o'clock in the
afternoon. Barbara had been busy with a fund raising project for Habitat
and was making a list of things to pack for her trip to Indianapolis, IN,
Sunday afternoon. Rayanne had dreamed up a last-minute family gathering for
Saturday night, and I had grass to cut.
Somehow in all of the hubbub, I failed to update
Ridge Rider News
Online, and because I spent the following week in Atlanta, those
who utilize the Internet to read this newsletter were denied the opportunity
until late Thursday night (5/13).
I had skipped trimming Sarah's lawn the previous week and while time to do
so Saturday afternoon (5/08) was limited, I hastened to complete the work
in order to be in Belmont by six o'clock.
Jason's Saturday wasn't much better than mine, in that he had to work much
of the day and had hoped to grill boneless pork chops at home Saturday night.
He had bought the chops and had them marinating when I returned from fishing.
Rayanne's call to her mom changed all that and set into motion the wheels
of turmoil.
Sarah was involved in Rayanne's plans, too. Sarah's son, Brett, and his wife,
Kathy, from Jackson, plus Felicia of Oxford, planned to be in Pontotoc for
the weekend. Thus, Rayanne invited everyone to her house for Saturday
night.
By the time I finished Sarah's yard, Brett and Kathy had arrived, but a family
crisis arose shortly thereafter. After taking my shower and dressing, I ran
to Wal Mart for something, and upon returning home found Barbara extremely
upset. She had just gotten off the phone with Rayanne who was crying because
no one wanted to go to Belmont. Jason didn't want to go; Sarah didn't want
to go; Felicia didn’t want to go, and Kathy's foot was hurting. (She
had minor surgery to remove a plantar's wart the previous day.) In fact,
according to Barbara, nobody was going.
I still don't fully comprehend how everything fell apart while I was at Wal
Mart, but I convinced Barbara that I was going, tired or not. Since it was
Rayanne's purpose to celebrate Mother's Day, Jason agreed to go as well,
probably more for his mom's sake than for Rayanne's.
The biggest challenge was to convince Sarah's brood to attend. Sarah was
in her bathroom with her hair in curlers when I arrived to check on her.
Felicia was in her room pouting. Brett and Kathy were in the living room
with a confused look on their faces. As best I could determine, Sarah and
Felicia had exchanged words and were mad at one another, plus Sarah assumed
Kathy wouldn't feel like going with a hurting foot. However, Kathy stated
her foot only hurt when she tried to walk on it and she was willing to make
the trip. I told Sarah that my family was going and we would take our two
cars so she and Felicia could ride separately. She agreed to the conditions
and said she needed a few more minutes to get ready.
I returned to the living room to hear Brett say, "I didn't know you had so
much control. A few minutes ago, it was chaos around here, then you walk
in and now everything is fine."
I smiled without providing an explanation, but that's because women are hard
to explain. But, it's my theory that all women need a man in their life,
hopefully, one with a stabilizing influence. I doubt that I'm the best one
qualified in this situation, but I may have to do.
The trip to Belmont might have been uneventful, but for Jason's mistake.
He drove Barbara's Buick and followed me until we were the other side of
Tupelo. I must have not been driving fast enough to suit him or else he simply
wanted to take the lead. I thought he was moving a little too fast for someone
without a radar detector, and thought about passing him but decided to follow,
instead. I could only laugh when he missed the Belmont exit, thinking it
served him right for being impetuous. Both Felicia and I tried to phone him,
but our cellular phones lacked enough signal strength to dial. Fearing a
return to the tension-filled atmosphere that existed an hour earlier, I refrained
from kidding Jason once he arrived at Rayanne's.
Rayanne had dinner under control when we arrived. All that remained was for
Jason to grill the pork chops. He was not happy with Rayanne's gas grill,
claiming he could not reduce the flames enough to prevent the meat in the
middle of the grill from burning. I suggested he continually rotate the three
rows of chops to assure all were adequately cooked. It must have worked,
as he didn't burn any meat and all of the chops were thoroughly cooked. They
tasted good, too.
Before leaving Pontotoc and before the family crisis, Sarah had made her
famous potato salad based on a recipe Kim Goslin had given me years ago.
Between the pork chops, the potato salad, and a vegetable salad Rayanne put
together, the likes of which I had never eaten, it was hard to say what food
I enjoyed the most.
Somehow, everyone managed to have a good time, and I really think everyone
appreciated Rayanne's efforts in getting our family together for the evening.
Bodock Beau
Skinny-Dipping
It may be symptomatic of my age, but I thought the following anecdote an
appropriate comparison of the young and the old.
An old farmer in Georgia had owned a large farm for several years. He had
a large pond in the back, fixed up nice, picnic tables, horseshoe courts,
basketball court, etc. The pond was properly shaped and fixed up for swimming
when it was built.
One evening, the old farmer decided to go down to the pond, as he hadn't
been there for a while, and look it over. As he neared the pond, he heard
voices shouting and laughing with glee. As he came closer he saw it was a
bunch of young women skinny-dipping in his pond. He made the women aware
of his presence, and they all went to the deep end.
One of the girls shouted to him, "We're not coming out until you leave!"
The old man replied, "I didn't come down here to watch you ladies swim or
make you get out of the pond naked. I'm here to feed the alligator."
Moral: Old age and cunning will triumph over youth and enthusiasm
every time.
Submitted by Ken Gaillard
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