SOME
THINGS ARE MEANT TO BE
by Chad May
My brother Todd and I
rarely had opportunities to fish together once we left home in
pursuit of higher education. Todd was at Georgia Southern and I was
in extreme South Georgia at Valdosta State University. We both
called Augusta, Georgia home, therefore hunting or fishing with any
regularity was unusual at best. Every once in a while and on
holidays we were able to hit the woods or wet a hook. During the
summer break of 1992, we both happened to be home and feelin’ fishy.
Todd had no tackle what so ever and we had to improvise. We took an
old Zebco 33 reel and the base of a rod we found in the garage. Then
we took the top off another rod I had ruined the summer before. What
do you know, we were fishing. Although we had no boat, we had time
to kill and the determination to stay away from our parents who were
constantly asking questions about our futures.
Todd and I decided to go
try a pond that we had hunted by for years but never seen anyone
fish. This pond had a lot of growth around and was extremely thick
with the exception of where we walked down on the bank. Casting off
the bank was like a fly attempting to transverse a spider web. It
just wasn’t going to happen! Never the less, we were there to catch
up and have fun. A few minutes later, I was getting anxious and
decided to walk back toward the truck. Something in the brush caught
my eye. Unbelievable, it was a two man blow up raft. The raft was
deflated but, it was calling our names. After a few moments of
intense deliberation, we figured, why not? The raft probably
wouldn’t hold air anyway…it did! Could we possibly use a long limb
to push and paddle the raft along the waters edge...it worked! There
was no way we would catch fish in this contraption using this less
than desirable fishing equipment…we tore them up. We had been
fishing for about two hours. It was July hot in Georgia but, a nice
breeze blew across the pond. Unfortunately, the breeze took us a
little deeper than we originally wanted to go! Todd thought I was in
the driver’s seat while I thought he was handling the navigation,
either way our paddle limb was useless. We decided not to worry and
just go with it. First cast in the deep water, Todd got hung up. He
cut the line and proceeded to tie on what could possibly go down in
history as the ugliest lure ever created. It was a hideous yellow
jig thing with fur. Just as a joke Todd threw it into a pocket of
stumps, set his rod down, and kicked back for a break. We talked
about that ugly lure for a few moments. Todd reached down, picked up
his rod, and away we went. Todd actually caught something on the
ugliest lure known to man, I couldn’t believe it. Visualize two
college guys, in a two man blow up raft, being pulled around a pond
by what might be the dumbest fish God ever created. That kind of
thing only happens on television! Once the fish was exhausted, Todd
slowly reeled her into the raft. The bass weighed a little over
eight pounds and was the largest bass either one of us had ever
caught at the time. Over the years I have caught some truly nice
bass, some well over ten pounds but, I must say, that day of fishing
is my favorite one to talk about. When I look back at what happened
that day and how it transpired, I’m still amazed. All I can say is
it was our day! It seems that sometimes the most unique
circumstances and the most improbable situations help create the
greatest memories that last forever. Traditional Sportsman…Pass On
The Tradition!
Chad May is the Editor of Traditional Sportsman Magazine
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