1/11/11

Five days ago the weather forecasters predicted snow for today. Some of my best fishing since '89 when I moved to the lake has been in the winter during snow storms. Three days ago I noticed there would be no wind. My phone started ringing, Anthony and Brian also knew of the potential of fishing in the snow so we planned the trip. Anthony was to pull my boat with his Excursion, Brian was going to follow us in case he had to leave early to take care of his 1 year old son or if the road conditions warranted his early departure, and a client/friend [Nathan] drove from Springfield and met us at the ramp. We were in no hurry to get to the lake, it has been an evening bite lately so we arrived at daylight, went and caught 130 baits and went fishing. We pulled a dozen boards and a couple freelines all day working flats, humps and points where we believed we could catch a Hog. After working the first area thoroughly for a couple hours only to catch a few punks and a keeper fish or two we hit 4 other areas with the same set up only to have the same success. At 3 o'clock we caught more bait to prepare ourselves for the anticipated evening bite and set out our spread one final time. We took a few hits and then a friend called me to see how we were doing and said the roads were icing up. We took a vote on the boat to see if we all wanted to stay and fish or get off the water and get back home due to the weather. I was surprised to see that our desire to fish lost to common sense and survival. We hesitantly loaded the boat and headed home. Anthony was driving about 25 mph and about 3 miles from the ramp on what appeared to be just wet roads he simply let off the gas and broke loose. The boat trailer started fishtailing going from shoulder to shoulder trying to pass our tow vehicle. Amazingly Anthony kept his cool and controlled the runaway trailer gaining control of the moment. I immediately called Brian who was following us to ask him if he had any spare underwear in his Jeep. He was in shock of what he had just witnessed and informed me that not only did he loose control but Nathan had also. Anthony put his Excursion in 4 wheel high and crept the rest of the way back to the boat shed. About a 1/4 mile from where our episode took place was a 3 car accident, vehicles in the woods. We made it home without further incident but not so good for Brian. Before he got to 95 he had passed 4 or 5 other areas with cars in the woods and shortly after passing one of the accidents Brian lost control of his Jeep, did a 360 and went through 2 concrete pillars at the entrance to someones driveway, ending up in the driveway without hitting a thing. Nathan had witnessed it all and was in disbelief. We all made it home safely, fortunately with no damage to ourselves or vehicles, but hopefully a little smarter [Duh!]. Back to fishing... We never got into any nice fish today, caught plenty of punks, a limit of Stripers, 3 Bass and a Catfish. Nathan is holding a couple of the Bass he caught.

1/11/11...a day 4 fisherman will never forget