As the alarm went off, I jumped out of bed excited to go hunting for my first turkey. My husband, Toby and I put on our camouflage and head to the woods. We set up our blind and eagerly awaited the first sounds of a gobbler answering as Toby strikes the call. I wait patiently for that wonderful sound I so want to hear, but as time passed, nothing. As Toby striked the call again a large hoot owl flies to a nearby tree searching for the sound it has heard. I watch the beautiful owl as it sits for several minutes on the tree limb before taking flight again, soaring to a tree further off. We continue waiting, still with hopes of getting a turkey watching several deer grazing nearby as they work their way across the field until they are out of our sight. We continue to sit and wait for several hours without hearing or seeing a turkey, so we gathered up our gear, folded up the blind, and headed towards our truck. As we drove out of the woods heading to our house a single hen runs across our path and off into the woods.
Although discouraged because we did not get a turkey, we knew there would be another day to hunt and the day was too beautiful not to be outdoors. Since we could not hunt turkeys in the late afternoon and evening in Missouri, we made the decision to go fishing on the Spring River in Arkansas. We asked my brother-in-law, Casey, to join us on our fishing trip and show us a few places he liked to go, teaching us what bait he used in different areas of the river.
After trying out a couple of lures and not catching a fish, I asked Casey to choose which lure he thought would be best for me to use and he chose Salted Brush Puppies by Case Plastics. Since Casey fishes that area of the Spring River more often than we do he knows what type and color of lure works best. As I cast my line into the foamy bubbles below the fall, I eagerly awaited my first fish of the day. Toby and Casey had each caught fish already and I had yet to catch one. After a couple times of casting out my new lure, I felt a tug as a fish struck my bait. I quickly set the hook and reeled in my fish, a nice size goggle-eye. I could hardly wait to cast out my line again. Casting out a few more times I felt another tug on my line. I knew this was a bigger fish as I reeled it in, the smallmouth bass fought against the current and the line, losing its battle as Casey reached down and got my fish in the net.
I did not get my first turkey, I did not catch the biggest fish, I did not catch the most fish, but I did catch some fish and I had fun. I look forward to my next fishing trip and will definitely be trying out the Salted Brush Puppies again. To find out more about Salted Brush Puppies and other lures by Case Plastic, go to www.madtoms.com.
