peetso Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 The wait. For spring. For the ice to leave. For spare time. For decent weather. Eventually the wait has to end. Make some time. F$%# the weatherman, he's usually wrong. Leave the boat at home, don't be slowed down. Take the canoe. Be portable. Go solo. Go light. Go now.A long drive to find out the weatherman was right. Launch anyways. The clouds roll in. The wind picks up. The rain comes down. The coves on the north side might offer some protection. Paddle hard. There's no time to revel in the greenery. No break to admire the eagles. No chance to snap a few photos. Paddle hard. Stay straight. Get to the otherside.Two hours of paddling, ten minutes of fishing, one small juvenile pike. Then lightning flashes. The thunder rolls. Go to shore. Crack a beer. Huddle under a spruce. Fend of the mosquito hordes. And wait some more. Seven beers worth. Enough time for exsistential worry and personal crisis. The whys. The whats. The how comes.The rain stops. The wind dies. A little.Launch. Leave the bugs on shore. Cast. Retrieve. Cast. Retrieve. Cast. Strip. Strip. Stip. Hesitate. The fly stalls and hangs. And then it happens. A flash from out of nowhere. A vicious take. A strong run. Line peels off. The see-saw battle. Three, four, maybe five, more good strong runs. Fighting dirty at the boat. The rolls and twists, mad dashes under the canoe. Finally to the net.The wait is over.It was a beautiful pike and it deserved a better photo. One that truly captured it, in all it's glory.Not like this.A fish lying in a net, at the bottom of the canoe. Clutter strewn about. A paddle on the floor. The offending fly cast off to the side, next to the hemostats. A rubber boot in the bottom right corner. A homemade fly box in the top left. The composition poor. Water spots on the lens. The angle all wrong. No way to see the decent length or impressive girth of the fish. No way to see those wonderful markings. Nothing to show the power and speed, the fury and the beauty.But its hard to get all artsy with the camera while solo. In a tippy canoe. With a sizable fish thrashing madly in the boat, its razor sharp teeth threatening to grab hold of anything within reach. In rough water. Nerves frayed from the weather. Tired from a twenty minute fight and the all day battle to stay upright. This one poorly taken photo is all the evidence there is.To you it may just look like a fish, in a net, in the bottom of a canoe.But I'll remember as it truly was.One good fish. And a reminder that often times that's all it takes. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawgstoppah Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 a thousand likes!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muffin Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Oh so true, many a frustrating day recovered from just that one fish. Great writing and thanks for sharing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericlin0122 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 nice pike! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muffin Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Haha oh ya that too, very nice Pike. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fliesbymike Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Nice!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveM Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 I liked that a lot. Keep on classing this place up, Peetso. Try not to get eaten by them damn skeeters... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyfisher Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 As always, Peetso finds the poetry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaa Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Great post Peetso, awesome story. I actually felt like I was there with you buddy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMLhammy Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 I'm not even into pike and I was into that story and picture man well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peetso Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 I don't understand . . . How could one "not be into pike"? . . . but thank you for the kind words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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