This all took place years ago and it was one of those healin' times we all go through...and this time, my kid sister, Linda Jean, needed some healin' and some support. So now, I present to you all the story of the...
Jitterbug Bream
There was a time when, every time I went through the preparatory steps to go fishin' that I really tackled it with the competitive spirit that came so natural to me. Looking back on my most recent trip to beautiful Lake Ouachita, I see a really different scenario. What a blessing.
Linda really wanted to go fishing. Truth is actually, she just wanted to unwind and let her hair down and let the wind blow through it for a spell. So we began to get it together. I went to the shop and made sure that Lil' Brother's boat was charged up and "at the ready." It was (as usual). I went through the rods and reels and made sure everything was operational for the next day (They were). I went down the checklist. Check; check; check; check.
Alls I needed now was to hook'er up and proceed to Trader Bill’s for some trotline minnows and crappie minnows, some ice, gas and we would be set. We stayed up late that evening. The later I stayed up the more I knew I would not be able to get up before daylight and be on the water AT daylight, like I threatened. I didn't really care.
The next day, we all woke up casually and meandered around the Hilltop, taking in all the healing that it seems to dispense during times of concern. We all delved into meaningful and uncommonly deep conversations, knowing that that was the stuff of grace.
Finally, we got things together, hitched up the boat and took care of business at Trader Bill's. With the ice chest full of ice and "fish food," the boat and Linda's Tahoe full of gas, Virginia, my lovely wife, Linda and yours truly found our way, going westbound on Highway 270, closing in on Mount Ida and Twin Creeks Landing. We got there in short order and the lake was beautiful. That's all it took for Linda to begin her usual verbal posturing about catching the biggest and mostest. I didn't care and neither did she, really. We were all together and that is what mattered. Virginia always gets excited about the lake and this was no exception. However I detected a sense of reservation and relaxation uncommon with her when she was so close that we could actually smell the freshness of the cool, cleansing air coming in from the west, across the lake.
Linda (eventually) backed the boat down the ramp . The motor sprang to life. The gals jumped in and we were off, heading across the biggest water to a favorite hidyhole Tom had shared with us a year earlier. It was 1:00 pm. We decided to take the "late shift" and that we did. The fish were stingy as they are many times in the gin-clear waters of the Ouachita, but I didn't care. I expected it—in the middle of the day. Son, when the bass refuse to hit shiners deep, shallow or in between, it's a rare occasion. Today was sadly, a rare occasion. But none of us really cared. I beat the water to a froth with artificials and wormed deep, but to no avail. Finally, Virginia brought first blood with a 4" black bass-about half again the size of the minnow it attacked. I wonder what he thought he was going to do with that shiner, anyway. Virginia set up a howl when I threw it back, explaining that I thought it was a tad below the slot limit. But Linda took a photo of the "trophy" anyway (sigh).
I caught a couple of rock bass, just sos I could smell like I had been fishin'. I now had the "heavy stringer award of 10 oz (maybe), but I didn't care as long as I was ahead of Linda. She has a way of having MORE than her share of good luck when it comes to fishin’. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She was actually enjoying herself for the first time in days. I did care about that!
Then-without warning-it happened. I was jolted back into reality. True to her form, Linda took the spotlight. Her rod (a medium Berkley) bent double and took a huge dip toward the water as she set the hook like a pro. The fight was on. For 2 minutes she wrestled with her catch...with her bellerin’, much of the time. It didn't come to the top so I thought she had a carp or a catfish. Finally it began to tire and Linda gained good line and Virginia had the net. I readied the camera. We all saw it at the same time. Linda was bent over the edge of the boat, sos not to get the line around the prop and up it comes with a sudden thrust, it just 'materialized' from the deep.
Immediately , Linda screamed and actually levitated off the floor of the boat and onto the top of the live well. Virginia was not stayin' hitched for it either, being perched on the transome, completely mortified! :eek: Folks, it musta been a 20 pound loggerhead turtle, with its bony mouth snagged on her CRAPPIE rig. Obviously, someone had coached Linda not to let the slack out of the line, before. She FREAKED OUT—I mean—24 karet FREAKED OUT. I took a couple of photos and then she gave it slack and it was gone, just as quickly as it appeared. "That's the NASTIEST thing I have EVER seen!" she said, wild-eyed and frazzled. "We came to catch FISH Linda Jean, not for turtle soup," I quipped. "Very funny. At least I caught something with some weight to it." Yada, yada, yada. I seemed to feel some hot air somewheres around me.:rolleyes:
The sun was setting and now it was time to get serious. I put on a black "hydrilla gorilla" with a trailer hook. It is a buzz bait made in Kentucky that sounds more like a lawn mower coming across the water than a lure. Bass hate it usually. Today, only two ROCK bass hated it. I didn't care. But for Linda, I tied on my secret "go-to" for night fishin'...a black ¾ oz jointed jitterbug. She cast it like a pro. Plop-plop-plop-plop it went for the remaining couple of hours. The water was like glass and you could hear the buzz bait and the jitterbug raisin' cain, from across the bay. Virginia stayed true to the minnows.
I couldn’t figure why we hadn’t caught a bunch of fish. I held true to all the the rituals of Arkansas fishin’. I drank my root beer, and I ate my hostess cup cake. I had done all I was suppose to do today to catch fish, but the stringers were decidedly light. I didn’t care, as long as Linda’s was light too!
Of course, the last "fish " of the day was from Sis. I must say; I've never seen this in all my years of fishin'. We were fishin a little bay with a weed bed about 6' deep. It was almost totally dark (we didn't care) . The bass were schooling and we thought we might get lucky. The sun was long gone and the bugs were attempting to make our lives miserable, but we knew we were not long for the lake so (again) we didn't care.. Linda was steadily retrieving when I heard her say "I gotta fish, Johnboy. How 'bout that???" She reeled the monster in and it was about a 10oz BREAM. A BAD-BOY BREAM with an attitude!!!! ...on my "go-to" secret weapon black ¾ oz jointed jitterbug. I thought she had foul hooked it, but upon close examination, she hooked it with TWO hooks. That little bad boy was HUNGRY donchaknow???
Who woulda thunk it?????a JITTERBUG BREAM!! A fitting end to a good, laid-back, simple day on the lake. I cranked up the ole' 25 horse and set sail out of the bay. We hit the big water with the welcome breeze hitting us full in the face. It was nice. It was stark dark.. The stars were ablaze and no one said anything. I could feel my sunburn already, but it was worth it. With the spotlight out ahead of the boat, going port, starboard, port, starboard, we made our way west into what was left of the remnant crimson after-glow of a once-blazinging sunset. (semi-standard for Arkansas)
We got back to the landing , and after Linda and Virginia spent 30 minutes trying to back the trailer down , we loaded up. (Son, it looked like something out of I LOVE LUCY or Laurel and Hardie). Lucy and Ethal had the dangest time tryin’ to get that boat down the ramp. It's a good thing it was 9:30pm (no other boats on the ramp) or I woulda had to paid to have some dents taken outta sompin' I'm sure. It was so funny. Linda looked good on the back of the trailer trying to tell Virginia how to turn the wheel. The blind leading the ever-lovin’ blind. :rolleyes:
Well, sorry for the length, but I wanted you to know that sometimes it doesn't really matter how many fish you catch or how bad the sunburn is, or anything else. It's the company you are with that really counts. I didn't have a single fish to clean, but let me tell you, we got our limit of a good time. I promised Daddy a long time ago that I would always take care of Linda and Tommy as long as I lived. Today, it was a passle of fun as we had a good time and drew, from down deep in our souls…letting the beautiful Ouachita do its magic, one…more…. time.
Fishin' is a healin' time sometimes. :) And now you know the story of the JITTERBUG BREAM and the time that we had. Thanks for comin' along. <><
AJ
