Practically Skunked

My muskie starter kit was completed this week when the Shimano Cardiff 400 that I ordered finally arrived on Monday.  This lit my fire to go chase them, so I put together a plan to spend all day Friday on Thornapple Lake.  I'd have to get the boat from my parents' house, so while I was up there on Wednesday to pick it up I figured I might as well spend a few hours on the river.

Even though just about everything is open, including catch and release for bass, things still aren't hopping on the river.  When the fish get into their summer pattern a crawler at the end of your line will rarely go more than a few minutes before something finds it and picks it up.  I barely scraped up a couple of suckers to use for cutbait.  The only other fish that I caught in the 3 or 4 hours before dark was a 3-pound channel.  Still, my experience this year has been that slow days on the river doesn't necessarily mean slow nights.  The channels had come through for me each night no matter how bad the fishing was during the day.  I figured that the pattern would continue.

To make a long story short, I was dead wrong.  The Grand River catfish had a collective case of lockjaw.  I fished my 3 rods for 2 1/2 hours and never got a single bite.  Not a twitch, not a nudge, not a tap, not a tickle.  They were completely shut down.  The water temperature remained at 57 degrees, but the air temperature dropped down to 40 before I left at 11:30.  This must have had something to do with it.  I don't think I've ever had a night where I didn't even get a bite.  It was kind of amazing.  Wouldn't have called that one.  I consoled myself with the notion that this was really just a bonus trip and the real fishing was going to take place on Friday.  I planned on getting on the lake before sun up and staying out there until after sundown.

The best part of that whole night happened as I was leaving the house.  Luke asked to walk me out.  I said good-bye to him in the driveway and got in the Jeep to hit the road.  I looked up as I was backing out and he was sitting on the steps giving me thumbs up.  I can't exactly put to words why, but this really warmed my heart.  It was just a simple gesture from the little guy, but it brought to my mind that famous footage of JFK Jr. saluting his dad during the funeral procession.  I realize that Luke's dad is just some schmuck heading out fishing and not in the league of a fallen president.  I think it was more about the boy than the dad in this situation.  It was just a nice little reminder of how much I love that kid and how much our growing father-son relationship means to me.  The river sure wasn't good to me, but I went to bed feeling blessed that night.