Sir Jon's Fishing Trip

While Mike was telling his story he continued sorting and cleaning his tackle. Once he had completed his story he was sure there would would be a flood of questions from Sir Jon. Mike figured he would be questioned extensively on the catfish that got away. Instead the first question from Sir Jon stunned him. Sir Jon asked in his little voice, "Mike, would you take me fishing with you some day?" Mike sat there in disbelief not knowing what to say. Here was an eleven year old boy asking him to take him fishing. Mike had long been involved with some sort of activitiy involving children. As ironic as it may seem. One of the first things he did with kids was fishing. When he was growing up he used to take several of the local boys fishing who had no father or brother to take them. Sometimes he would even take them on overnight camping trips. He looked at Sir Jon andd said, " I would be honored to have you join me on on of my daily fishing trips." Sir Jon sat there trying to hold back tears. Just as Mike and Sir Jon were finishing up they noticed someone coming up the front walk. It was Paul, Sir Jon's dad. Sir Jon was bouncing all over the place at the prospect of going fishing with Mike. Mike shook Paul's hand and chatted with him for a couple moment. They could see Sir Jon was bursting at the seams with his news. Mike told Paul that Sir Jon had something he really wanted to talk to him about. Sir Jon asked if it would be ok for him to go fishing with Mike. Mike said, "Paul if your not busy why don't you come along with us and the three of us will make a day of it. " Paul quickly agreed which made Sir Jon very happy. Now he would be fishing with both his dad and Adventurer Mike at the same time.

Cactus gets away

he came to a stop near a small rock ledge that ran cross ways the river. It had impeded his forward progress. Had he not stopped i surely would have run out of line. I moved swiftly up the river bank to shorten the distance between me and that fish as much as possible. I stopped reeling for a moment to make sure he was still there and hadn't spit the hook into the rock bed on me. Oh yes, he was still there. I could feel him thrashing from side to side with his head as i started to reel the line slow and steady. That's when I found out the true power of the fish. I would battle with him until he was a mere ten feet from shore. When I went to land him he would take off without much effort he would run up stream forty or fifty yards then stop. Each he would run it seemed as if he was running further than the last." As Mike continued telling his story, Sir Jon wide eyed with amazement enjoying himself. With each word his excitement was building. Mike had his full attention as he continued his story. "I fought with big ol' mean catfish for nearly an hour before it looked like I had finally won the battle. The fish was coming to shore with very little difficulty this time. I kept a slow steady reel on him as I drew him closer and closer to shore. I could feel the excitement in my chest as my heart pounded wildly. The thought of getting that big fish to shore was very exciting. I got him to shore he made one last attempt to get away. I held on tight as he thrashed around in circles trying to dislodge the hook from his mouth. Exhausted he lay there with his head out of the water. I looked at him closely as I reached for him. He appeared to be smiling at me. I found that to be a little interesting since he was about to be dinner for me. I noticed something a little different about this catfish for the others I had caught. He had extra whiskers on the left side of his lower jaw. As my hand touch the back of his head he spun around one more time and arched his body wildly. I put both hands back on controlling the rod but it was to late. He had dislodged the hook from his jaw and slipped back into the water. All I could do was stand there and watch as he swam away leaving me stand there in amazement holding an empty hook. I estimate he weighted about twenty-five or thirty pounds." Sir Jon sat there in silence for minutes taking in what Adventurer Mike had just told. Thinking, "here is a master catfish fisherman admitting the he had lost a big ol' catfish just like anyone else could have done.

Questions

"Well, Sir Jon" said Mike in his deep voice. "To answer your question. Every year about this time I take out all my fishing tackle ans go through every piece. From my extra long fishing rod, to the bottom of my portable tackle store. I clean up each and every piece as i check it for any problems. Things like, bent or broken hooks or maybe a swivel has come loose or even out. These items I set aside until I am done with all the tackle. Then I go back and fix or replace them. If things are ok I place it in the tackle store where it belongs. Daredevils with spoons and each size and style of hook in its own space. When I have done all I can a trip to the Fishermen's Warehouse is next. There I buy whatever I need to replace because I am low on supply or I need it to fix something else. In this manner I always have a full Tackle store when the first day of the fishing season comes around." As quickly as Mike could answer a question Sir Jon would already be forming a new one to ask. Sir Jon picked up a black and silver curved spoon and looked at it carefully as he asked Mike, "what is this one used for?" Mike gave him a list of different fish and weather conditions that it would work for. Then took a deep breath hoping that Sir Jon had run out of questions. But, alass he had not. Question after question kept flying for Sir Jon's mouth and Mike would answer him quickly. The smile on Sir Jon's face revealed not only how he felt at this particular moment but reflected his personality. Always a happy little camper with a thousand questions. Mike was about to put an even bigger smile on Sir Jon's little face. Sir Jon had paused a moment giving Mike the impression he was out of questions. When in fact he was saving the best for last. "Mike," said Sir Jon. Mike sat there wondering what piece of tackle he would have to explain next. It was good practice for him. Mike held his breath slightly waiting on the rest of Sir Jon's question. Sir Jon shifted gears on him and went from fishing tackle to the fish. "Have you ever lost a big ol' catfish. I mean you had him hooked and he just plum got away from you?" Sir Jon paused for a moment thinking he wasn't going to get Adventurer Mike to admit he had lost a fish let alone a big one. Mike was a little stunned at first as he struggled to answer the humbling question. Sir Jon stood there in silence awaiting Adventure Mike's answer. You see Sir Jon thought Mike would never admit to ever loosing a big fish. Especially a Flathead Catfish. However, Mike stood there a moment stroking his mighty beard carefully. Then with a twisted little smile on his face he slowly began to speak. "Yes Sir Jon i have lost a big catfish before. It was one of the biggest, strongest and smartest catfish I had ever laid eyes on. Which I did, briefly as I watched him swim away." Sir Jon smiled a wide toothy smile knowing he had done what he had intended to do when he went to Mikes. He had gotten Mike to tell him a fish tail without to much prodding. He listened carefully as Mike continued his story. "Well Sir Jon, I was fishing on the Mississippi River in the Southern part of Minnesota. I had been in this one spot for nearly an hour catching little fish. You know the ones I am talking about. Those pesky little three to five pound fish that are about the right size to eat. Right in the middle of all my good luck everything quit biting. I tried and tried but nothing was biting. You know what it means Sir Jon when that happens. "Yes, i know" was his reply. "Either a huge preditor fish has moved in for a snack or the entire school was let out of class early and they all left at the same time." Mike laughed as he spoke. "I never heard it put that way but Sir Jon you hit the nail right on the head. I move several feet in both directions to try locating then. First I went down stream thirty yards and worked my way back to where I started then I did the same thing upstream and worked back to my original location. I leaned back opened the bail and let fly with all my might. With those heavy sinkers on my hook took off as if it were headed for outer space. They splashed down a few moments later about a eighty yards or so off shore. The strong current began rolling the sinkers along the bottom so I let out more and more line until it finally came to rest way downstream off a sandbar island that stuck up out of the water. My bobber lay flat across the top of the water the way I lie it to. I had decided this was to be my last cast in this location. So, with the fish not biting or doing so really slow. I figured with the way they were biting I was in for a very long wait. I propped up the rod and opened the bail and settled into a chair next to my fishing rod. I grabbed the material to make a new leader but, just as i was about to start the bobber went under. Before I could get the rod picked up and set the hook, the bobber popped up again only a few feet from where it went under. I waited hoping he would come back and try again, but nothing happened. I slowly reeled up the slack line until it was tight and moved the bobber about four feet. the bobber stood tall in the water. I sat back once again to wait for fish. Nothing, no fish biting and when i pulled the line in. Sure enough the hook had been nibbled clean leaving me with a bare hook. Knowing now that the fish had moved back in I loaded the hook with Nite-Crawlers then tipped each hook with a small square of Cheese and tossed it out as far as i sold. and watched it drop about twenty yards from where it had been just a couple of moments ago. I settled back into my chair and was about to start making leaders. I hadn't even gotten the first one done when my bobber started disappearing quickly then popping right back up. I carefully picked up the rod and closed the bail then reeled in as much slack as i could before the line went tight. I felt him move the hook. I lifted the tip of my 9' Catbuster straight towards the sky. All you hear was,this loud swish followed by the line singing in the wind as they fish was on the run and the battle had begun. The tight line in the win combined with the constant rapid clicking of the spool drag was music to my ears. I watched in awe as the line was being ripped from the spool faster than I had ever seen in my entire life. That Catbuster rod was getting a major test. It had a bow in it that looked like i had my hands wrapped around one end of the rainbow. When that fish took off upstream he displayed so much power and speed he covered nearly a hundred twenty yards before......

Cactus, The One That Got Away?

On this particular day we find Adventurer Mike sitting at his porch table sorting through his fishing tackle. He is enjoying the unusually warm April temperature while preparing for the upcoming fishing season. He carefully take stock of everything in his tackle box and makes note of what needs repair or replacing. Whatever needs repair he sets aside to fix later on when he returns from his run for replacements at the local Sporting Good Store. Mike was busy checking over his supply of sinkers when he heard this little voice calling out to him, "hey Mike, hey Mike." He looked up to find Sir Jon, one of the local neighborhood boys coming down the sidewalk towards his house. Mike really enjoyed talking to Sir Jon. Everyone calls Jonathan, Sir Jon. Sir Jon, is eleven years old now and is really into fishing. He has gone on several fishing trips with his older brothers and his father a time or two. Sir Jon, calmly walks up to the table where Mike is sitting, "hey Mike, what are you doing?" He inquired in his little voice. Stop! {Before we go any furthers let me give you this little info on Sir Jon. He may be eleven years old and a little slow but, he has the energy of about six kids his age and inquisitive mind to match.} Now that you know that, here's what happened between Adventurer Mike and Sir Jon that sunny April morning.