Everybodyadventures.com outdoors editor has goal of getting outdoors to do something – hike, hunt, fish, camp, paddle, whatever – 260 of 365 days between Oct. 1, 2017 and Sept. 30, 2018. He’ll be posting stories, photos and videos of his adventures along the way. Follow along here, on Twitter @bobfryeoutdoors and on Facebook at BobFryeOutdoors. And don’t forget, you can upload and share photos of your own adventures, too, here.
A last chance at trout drew outdoors editor Bob Frye to go fishing.
I looked up to see an older man walking toward me along the riprap bank.
I’d just gotten here 10 minutes or so earlier, And with maybe 20 minutes left before dark, I wasn’t going to have much time to fish.
Again.
Man, I thought, I’ve got to get out of work earlier, or pick a lake surrounded by less traffic, or finish work closer to the water. Or all three.
But here I was – day three of hopefully at least 260 on this odyssey — and here he came.
“Any bites?” he asked.
“Nope. Nothin,” I replied. “You?”
“No. And I’ve been here an hour, long enough to know that if I haven’t gotten a bite they aren’t hitting tonight,” he said. “I heard they just stocked it, though.”
I’d heard the same thing. It’s why I was here.
But, like him, I was striking out.
“They’ll hit,” he said. “Maybe tomorrow, or the day after.”
With that he continued on his way toward home.
I cast a few more times there, then, impatient, moved on down the rocks, then did it again.
As hikes go, it was short but pleasant enough. But the fishing was no better for me than it was for the other guy, or for anyone else on the lake.
I saw not a single fish caught in my half hour or so.
I did hear – they have such a distinctive squawk – and then see a great blue heron. A half dozen mallards flew by overhead. The moon was beautiful reflected on the water. Shortly after leaving the parking lot I saw, perilously close to the edge of the road, three whitetails.
And … blah, blah, blah.
I’d have rather caught a trout, to be honest with you.
But, like the other fella said, maybe tomorrow.
