A minnow plug earned plenty of strikes.

Our next backwater was on the opposite side of the river and unlike our previous pond, it snaked out into pasture land as far as we could see. This side slough reminded me of fishing the main river nearer the headwaters. I switched back to Beetle Spin to widen my variety and Jack stuck with worm. We just strolled along feeling kind of special, me getting specks and redbreasts and my partner the occasional bass, one to three pounds.

On from there to a fascinating backwater labyrinth we entered by paddling into a little creekmouth. This looked great—high, black sod banks descending to lily pad-lined shore. We exited the canoe and walked along jigging the beautiful bends and got nothing; maybe it was a bit low. But Jack’s eagle eye had spotted something distant in the pasture beyond and I saw him striding through the grass like he was hoping to find a cow to milk. I had to follow in case he was onto something and sure enough, there was another lily pad-lined lake, this one shaped more like a road-killed Muppet.

There was no elevated bank but we placed our bare feet on solid ground, faced with scattered lily pads that dissipated into open water up to five feet deep. I tossed a 9-cm classic Rapala while Jack stuck with worm. Rapala, or maybe it was just me, seemed to rule this pond as Jack started feeling unjustly left out in the spot he had found. Bass regularly grabbed the wobbling stick as it weaved among the pads, climaxed by a 4-pounder. Eventually I said I was completely lost and Jack pointed to the cypress tree we had started by, having walked completely around and failed to catch either of the species I would have thought most likely, mudfish and gar. It was a great topper to another great day of fishing, magnified by the fact it wasn’t what we had in mind at all.

I still shop the same grocery store, more for proximity to my house now, than level of advice. Paul the Grocer seemed genuinely shocked when I related the difficulty in matching up his world view of stripers with the one I found out there, but that’s fishing for you. If it works out the way you planned, well, heck. What’s the point of going?

FS