The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.
On my recent trip along with my girlfriend i persuaded her that an afternoon of Bass fishing would be a good idea, she then gave me a look and nodded in agreement. Now just to tell you something about the look, its one of those ones where you actually start questioning yourself about what you just said, anyway she said its cool so yeah i thought this would be great! Little did i realize…
We packed the Land Rover a.k.a. – The Lady Alice – in went the cooler along with the tent and fishing rods and gear even an inflatable boat for my lady to tie onto my Fluid Kayak as type of a trailer to be pulled around on the dam that should make the fishing experience quite one to remember for her.
Upon our arrival we took the kayak off from the roof rack and i got the double action hand pump going to start inflating the other boat, making turns with the inflation process every time i was not busy inflating i was sorting out the gear that Carischia (my girl) will be using. I decided to give her the Sensation Adventure ii rod along with a Shimano Slade 3000 spinning reel, and i would be using my Daiwa Megaforce casting rod coupled with a pinnacle pro-series bait caster reel. Initially i started Carischia off with a decent soft-bait as we were fishing a lot of structure so it would be easier for a first time bass catching experience, I myself was also using a Soft-bait to start off with just to test the waters a bit, we both used dark colored baits as the water was very muddy after all the recent rains.
As we went out on the water i gave Carischia another lesson on how to go about the casting of it all and once she snapped the physics it went really well, she almost out cast me on some occasions, we were paddling along having fun in the late afternoon with the sun stroking our skin ever so gently as sat on what seemed to be a mirror rather than water, consuming everything that is nature and hunting those ever illusive slivers beneath us. as time went by i was busy taking some photos with my SJCAM SJ4000+ when all of a sudden i hear a commotion behind me, there it was Carischia was on!!! she’s so excited she can barely hear me talking to her as the reel cries and the rod bends towards the water! This is it i thought, her 1st day on the water and she’s gonna out fish me! I managerd her to set the drag on the reel a bit tighter in order to bring that bad boy to the boat where i can help her taking the fish out of the water. I only got a good look at the Bass once i took it out of the water and boy was it a nice one for a first fish!! I then took the hook out and taught her to handle a Bass and where to take hold of it and what to watch out for as i handed the fish over to her to snap a photo, turning on the camera i’m still thinking damn i’m one down now and that’s never a good thing when it comes to Bass fishing…
As soon as i took the picture i put away the camera and took a sip of my Savannah cider and started working the water HARD! i need to catch up to my girlfriend now. Eventually i started trying different baits and ended up using a good crank bait made by DAMIKI BAITS called the boggler 60 in the baby bass color with an internal rattle, and what do you know!! success!! Hooked a fish now i just need to land this bad boy i’m thinking to myself once again, at least making the score a nifty even one all 🙂
Carischia starts pulling herself closer to me to see whats happening and then it appeared…a baby bass just a bit bigger than the palm of my hand, and yes you’ve guessed it, she made me know that with every opportunity she got and even to this day im still getting grief for catching a smaller fish than she did…
The afternoon went on to be quiet on the fishing front as we both now are working hard to get another fish landed to take the lead, then just as i was about to pull my crank out of the water to make another cast, out of nowhere all of the sudden i had a hit! im on with another one, this time a little bit bigger one but still smaller than the one Carischia caught, and 5 mins later another and then another as i went on landing 7 fish in total by the time we lost the heat of the sun.
Even though i caught more than Carischia she still believes that she won me that day, i say the score is yet to be settled 😉
There is never a winner or loser with casual fishing, as everyone that’s taking part in this great part time will always be a winner, getting out in nature and having fun, seeing things that you don’t see everyday and experiencing things that few people ever get to experience…that is the true value of fishing, calming your soul and following the beat of African sun for then we are all winners!
After it all Carischia still tells me her fish was bigger than mine and i will prob hear that for a long time still to come, but…i Recon its safe to say my girlfriend is fully hooked on the sport of Bass Fishing now!! YESSSS PLEASE!!!!!!! so stay tuned for more fishing action to follow soon as i found it fit to start a whole new Blog category for this.
Till we fish again, keep the lures in the water and the lines tight!
cheers!
– Ivan
