Feeding the Fishes

Feeding the fishes is a sometimes euphemism used for intentionally drowning a person. However, in the case of the title of this entry, it is meant literally. We bought live minnows from the bait and tackle shop down the lake this morning and managed to get a number of strikes, but caught not one fish after being on the water for about two and a half hours. We essentially spent the day feeding the fishes.

Fishing on the lake with Erik has been a real pleasure. Typically, I have been paddling from the rear of the kayak, while Erik trolls or casts from the front. We have ventured out north and south of the dock and also crossed the ~1-mile wide lake and explored the other shore. Most times we catch panfish: smallmouth bass, perch, bluegills, ... Certainly most were edible size, but nothing too impressive.

However, on one encounter, Erik was reeling in a good-sized smallmouth bass to the side of the kayak and noticed what he thought was the reflection of the kayak paddle in the water. When the apparent image of the paddle began to swim away from the boat, we both realized it was a bigger fish following the hooked smallmouth, about to make a meal of it, when the boat must have spooked it. We both felt chills run down our backs when we realized just how big this predator fish was. We tried for 10 or 15 minutes to get the interest of this big fish again, but to no avail.