"It can't be time to get up!" I thought as I staggered from my warm bed to turn the loud, buzzing clock off in the dark. "Maybe it's raining," I muttered to myself as I stumbled through the house without turning any lights on. I finally made it out the back door, only to hear rain dripping from the eaves. "Good! I'll go back to bed,” I thought. "The turkeys won't be gobbling very good this morning. I'll finish my nap. What! I see a star in the sky! What is up here? Maybe I am still asleep." Lightning flashed in the distance. This all seemed so weird. Rain dripping off the roof of the house, stars twinkling in the sky, and lightning illuminating the sky in the distance.
As I struggled to get fully awake, I almost ran into Casey. "What are you doing awake at 4:30 in the morning, Casey?" I asked. "I was asleep downstairs and you woke me up. I'm going back to bed," he replied. "But don't you want to go fishing?" I asked. "When, Dad?" came the sleepy response. "Now. We can catch some good fish before it gets light, then listen for turkeys, and catch some more fish after we get a handle on the gobblers," I said. "Dad, you are crazy! Do you guarantee that I will catch a fish?" he asked. "No, but the conditions are perfect for catching big fish right now. You are awake, so let's go. You can take a nap when we get back. I may take one myself,” I said.
The sounds of rushing water filled our ears as we eased down the riverbank. Everything was wet and slick from the earlier rain. Perfect! Several casts in the dark later, I set the hook on a good fish. "Casey, bring the net! I have a fish on and it has to be a walleye!" I excitedly called out in the darkness to my fourteen-year-old fishing companion who was a few yards away. The fish wasn't as big as I had hoped it would be, but it weighed a respectable four pounds when put on the scales a little later in the morning. I had caught much bigger walleye here in the past, but I am always thrilled to get hooked up with a north Arkansas walleye. Another fish hit and I set the hook hard, expecting to feel the throbbing weight of a big walleye or smallmouth at the end of the line. Instead, I jerked the fish completely out of the water, and as I reeled it in, I was muttering to myself about what in the world kind of fish I had on. In the darkness, I could see just well enough to know that I had just caught the biggest goggle eye of my life. I put the giant goggle eye on the stringer with the walleye, knowing it would make a good addition to the Garner family fish fry that was in the making.
A few moments later, Casey set the hook on a big walleye. In typical fashion of shallow water walleye, the fish came to the surface fighting for all it was worth. I was excitedly telling Casey what to do to land the big fish when the bait pulled out of its mouth, flew through the air and impaled Casey in the leg. "Oooweee! That hurts! My lure is stuck in my leg! Dad! That was a huge walleye!" Casey hissed as he dug at the treble hooks imbedded in his pants and skin. "I am just sick that I lost that fish!" he continued. "It was a big one!"
"Casey, we need to go! The turkeys will be gobbling," I said as I made another cast into the dark water. "You said that ten minutes ago, Dad. Why do you keep chunking your bait if we need to go?" he asked. "Well, under these conditions and considering the place where we are fishing today, any given cast can produce the smallmouth bass or the walleye of a lifetime. It is just hard to quit," I said as I cast again.
A few casts later, we quit and headed to where we would be hunting on the first day of the Arkansas Spring Youth Turkey Hunt. The gobblers were already on the ground when we got there, and they were having a gobble fest. We listened for a while before heading to another fishing destination. "Dad! I don't like you right now!" my son said jokingly as I landed the fifth oversized smallmouth in less than ten minutes of fishing. "Here, take my lure and give me yours. They want this one today, and it is the only one I have," I said as I cut the stickbait off my line. A few casts later, Casey was battling a chunky bronzeback of his own. Before the fish quit biting, we had caught walleye, largemouth bass, Kentucky’s, a dozen chunky smallmouth bass, and goggle eyes. What a great day to be alive! I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
reprinted by permission, Paxton Media Group
