Having a cottage is amazing but maintaining them can be a lot of work. Over the last couple of weekends, my father in law and I have been building a new shed at the cottage so fishing time has taken a back seat to construction time. I haven't even had a chance to put the boat in the water so I have been limited to fishing off the dock or the paddle boat. (I do understand that complaining about this means I'm totally spoiled.)
There is a silver lining though. Being restricted to the dock has given me a chance to put aside the expensive crankbaits, electronics and fancy finesse-rigged soft plastics and get back to the basics. Any break from shed building I got I grabbed a rod, tied on a bobber and a worm, and ran down to the lake...like I did when I was knee high to a grasshopper.
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| My tackle box during shed construction |
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| A nice looking off-the-dock largemouth |
It had been a long time since I spent any amount of time soaking a worm under float. I hate to say it but I think I had forgotten just how fun it can be. Over the course of two weekends I maybe fished a total of an hour and a half but I caught a bunch of bass including a couple of decent ones. Not only is fishing this way easy and successful, the adrenaline buzz you get when you see your bobber disappear or suddenly go sideways isn't so bad either.
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| I watched this guy swim right out from under me and then my float went sideways |
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| Works done for the day |
I love fishing because there is no end to the learning and progressing but life this summer reminded me how and why I started fishing in the first place; it doesn't have to be complicated and it's really fun.
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Off-the-dock smallmouth
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| If you're gonna fish like a kid, you're gonna get some sunfish! |
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