Afternoon Delight

"....Started out this morning feeling so polite; I always thought a fish could not be caught who didn't bite; But you've got some bait a waitin' and I think I might try nibbling;
a little afternoon delight." (Starland Vocal Band)

OK, so this is a different afternoon delight than what's referred to in the song, but it was still oh-so-sweet. Following a few hours of desk work for me and a visit to the Doc's office for Hedrik, the two of us reverted back to simplicity and fished from his little portable boat - no gas powered motor, no electronics and only a handful of lures. We silently drifted down the river with rush hour traffic whizzing by behind us. Ah, the joys of urban fishing.

As we finished our drift Hedrik suggested trolling back upstream. I hopped on the trolling motor and we proceeded forth. Just past a bridge abutment my rod buckled. Thinking my Grandma snagged bottom (previously my Depthraider had last year when we fished the same area), I half-heartedly reefed back. When the rod responded with a couple solid thumps I knew I was not snagged! A couple minutes later after a great fight - lots of twists, spirals, and rolls - the 38.75" muskie was safely secured. It looked quite gnarly sporting a rather nasty mucous coat, but upon release it bolted out of my hand like bullet from a handgun.

After fishing the remainer of the river stretch we drifted back down to the bridge and anchored just upstream of a couple bridge abutments. I fired my Grandma past the abutment and worked it upstream. Just as the lure cleared the base of the abutment my rod loaded up. I slammed the hooks home and the fight was on. It didn't take long for this scrappy 37.75" to relinquish itself to my firm grasp. The out-of-body experience, or should I say out-of-water, didn't last long for the fish and again it swam back to whence it came.

Afternoon delights (plural)!