Labor Day Fishing (Updated)

Happy Labor Day indeed! After finishing with work, my wife and I headed out to our friends property west of STL for some food, friends, beer and...fishing. I had the ZXL with me ready for battle, and after a quick survey of the 4 acre pond-lake I determined there were a lot of catchable fish ready to be assailed.

I quickly started catching small bass and greenies. As I worked around the lake, the bass got bigger and the greenies more voracious. I was getting excited. Working from a tight spot on the bank, casting over to a particularly productive spot, I caught the largest of the bass for the night. It was only 14" or so, but a healthy, fat guy that delighted the owner. I think he was more excited at the sight of real fish--bass fish--in his lake. While holding the young bass for a photo, my line got a little tangled up in some bankside brush.

Waggling the rod to free my leader got me 90% free and one last lift with the rod would do the trick....but the wrong trick. The sound that I thought was the tiny branch snapping was actually the sound of my tip section greensticking and becoming 2 pieces. Once again I was beside the water in amazement. The branch it broke under was 1) dead and 2) smaller than the section that broke. Had to be a fracture, I imagined. So the ZXL is on her way to Bainbridge Island along with the TFO which is headed to Dallas. I'm, once again, rodless. This has got to end.

I quickly returned to the house, grabbed a beer, downed the beer, sent Chris a text about the incident, and then tried my best to be a sociable fun guy. Later, we all went to the lake dock to "feed the fish." I saw dozens of 6-8" bluegills swarming around, with half a dozen or so large Channel cats mixed in. I declared that a fish-fry was in order and borrowed the host's rod (an old Zebco 33 with a locked up drag). I plunked down a globug to mimic the fish food and started catching gill after gill. I realized that larger gills were a little deeper, so I let the bug sink...right into cat territory. I ended up (accidentally) nailing to cats on a globug. Yup, a glowbug.

So in the end, it was a fun fishing day, broken ZXL aside. I'm definitely anxious to get back on the water with my own rods, though. The break cancelled a Montauk trip I had planned for Tuesday. I now see the point of owning more than 2 rods.