It’s that time of year again and the bass are starting to fire up all across the region. Keeping this in mind, I have decided to share a story of a trip that I think will humor more than a few “anglers.” I must preface this by telling you about my ol friend Hoke Granger. We have been friends since we were old enough to shoot a bow and arrow. While deer hunting was our first love, turkey hunting has taken over in recent years, along with random fishing trips. Hoke and I always manage to get our selves in some precarious situations when it comes to “trips” that involve hunting or fishing. This certain trip was no different.
One morning in early spring Hoke and I have our minds made up that we are going to go bass fishing. It is around 4am as we grab our steaming coffee and climb in the truck to head out on our 2 hour drive to Gap Lake, Florida. It is below freezing and of course as fate will have it we are using the Go-Devil, a small boat able to navigate very shallow water. Against our better judgment we embark into the darkness to catch ourselves some bass. Our main concern is that no matter what, we cannot let our feet get wet or we will be miserable the whole trip.
Arriving about sun-up we unload on one of the sketchiest boat ramps you can imagine. It is a few pieces of concrete with a steep drop to the water. Getting this Go Devil in the water is no easy task. Well, we finally push off and head towards a good-looking slew we remember from a previous trip a couple years earlier. On our way over, we notice the lake water level has dropped a few feet. This is not too surprising considering the recent drought. Arriving at our location we see the entrance to the slew has been reduced to a narrow corridor sporting a little more than what looked like a few inches of water. Knowing the Go-Devil has been tested under such conditions, we decide to give it a field test of our own. Five minutes later, you guessed it, we are knee deep in below freezing water pushing our way out. We take a few minutes to gather ourselves and reflect on how we have once again managed to get in such unwarrantable situation. Determining to push on we gathered our soaked selves and attempted to dry off.
A little ornery we continue to fish for a few more hours. After hour three with not a single bite you can imagine the integrity of our mental state was up in the air at this point. Frustrated, Hoke turns to me and says, “what if every fish in this lake is in a ball somewhere?” Everything I tell you is God’s honest truth! A ball somewhere?
Really Hoke? Our spirits are waning lower by the minute but we decide to hit a small cove we have been eyeing before turning the Go-Devil back for land and warmth. To this day, what happens next has yet to be explained or even believed by any human being I’ve told this story to.
Well here we go, keep in mind the water is very clear, crystal clear. We are in the cove approaching shallow water. Movement to the left catches our eye and we notice bass swirling everywhere! We have entered a feeding frenzy. So we think. Easing the Go-Devil closer to the fish we start casting but no bites. We head a little further in to see what enigma is causing all the commotion. As God as my witness, we start seeing thousands of bass all huddling in a group in the knee high water. There are even some five to ten pounders! We start feverishly casting our lizards into the group of bass. The lizards hit some of the bass in the side, the tail, and even the eye, yet no response! So there we are, left helpless sitting in the middle of a “ball” containing every fish in the entire lake! Maybe one of you knows why this was, because I sure don’t. Still not sure it wasn’t all a dream.
The humor of the story lies with my friends and mines facial expressions, comments, and conversations surrounding our early morning trip to Gap Lake. I am by no means an expert angler, just
a hunter who enjoys a fishing trip or two. That somehow always seem to turn out the same. Maybe that is why the motor went out on the way back and we had to troll over two miles to that dang make shift ramp! Until next time, I wish you all the best on your outdoor adventures.