June, 2003.
I promised my nephew I would give him my old
truck when the new one was delivered. Now it
is time to make good on a promise. Sixteen
hours of driving finally gets me to Ipswich,
completing a seven state drive that included
the Formula 1 trials on I 495.
A good night's sleep and my brother, David,
awakens me at 4:30 am. One cup of coffee and
we drag the kayaks to the launch point. As the
tide is coming in, we have to be 5 miles out
there when the stripers arrive. Being from
Arizona I am not too bright on stripers, but
kinda figure if the tide is coming in with the
fish, we could just hunker down and wait for them.
You do not run after a bus coming at you I told him.
David tells me a REAL angler follows the fish.
Now, after 16 hours in a truck the day before, I
am placed in a fiberglass container the size of a
small BBQ, without a motor and expected to self
propel a few counties over where the fish are.
We are using fly rods. David got a good deal on
them, wholesale, instead of the normal zillion
dollars; he got them for only a few million. Attach
a reel that costs so much it should be stored in a
bank vault and all you need is a fly that has to be
hand tied to look exactly like a 79¢ Wal-Mart special.
Paddling out to the good spot, I unlimber a rod that
is longer than a Redneck's deluxe CB antenna and start
my casting. One, 2, 3 and the fly is out there...except
I have drifted back to where we launched the kayaks.
Back to the paddle to get over five counties. All this
done in a reclining position to keep my center of gravity
(read beer belly) below the water line. A few fish and
the tide changes, requiring another paddling against
the tide to return. Not a bad day, caught a few, all
undersized, but fun.
Next day tide is right so we walk 1 mile across mud
flats to where the fish are. Now casting, casting,
casting, catch a few, again undersize, but still fun.
This trend continues until I start questioning where
I pay to have my picture taken with one of them big
blown up fishes I see in the newspaper. David swears
they are out there, just not where we are.
This coming summer, I have my striper plans all laid
out: a boat with an honest to god motor (about the
price of three super duper rods and 2 fancy reels),
so I get where the fish are; Wal-Mart lures, saving
the money spent on a fly tying kit to pay for trailer,
gas and insurance; and a $29.95 Ugly Stick with a Zebco
spin reel. With the savings, I can afford the fishing
trip, and the formula 1 race I qualified for last year.
~ Pete Micus
About Pete:
Pete really does live in Arizona, and his brother
David, is our Dave Micus
who writes a weekly column here on FAOL!
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