A "Fishy Story" by Tom Hasselschwert

It is 4:23 AM—the alarm was set for 5:00 AM—I can’t wait for the morning to get here—I turn off the clock alarm, I peak out the window to see how strong the wind is blowing the trees around-----just a hint of a breeze----perfect---this should be a great morning on the water---I rub the sleep out of my eyes and brew a pot of coffee, I’m ready! The boat is already hitched to the truck from the night before—I load up my rods and my thermos of coffee and I leave the house at 4:52, proud that I was able to pull away before the original 5:00 AM wake up time.

The streets are quiet and empty—just he way I like ‘em—I head straight to the boat ramp and slowly back down the ramp. I ease the boat trailer into the water, being extra careful not to make a big splash. That slight breeze a minute ago has faded to barely a whisper and the water in the cove appears to be glass in the pale, fading moonlight. I slowly motor the boat to the dock and tie it off and allow it top idle and warm up as I park the truck and empty trailer.

As I start back toward the dock and my idling boat, my walk seems to slow and I find myself fast walking, almost a run to get in the boat, I settle in and push off the dock. At just idle speed, I head away from the dock and cross back over the ramp, at this time I start to survey where my first cast should be. Then I hear a familiar sound, my bilge pump has turned on and has started pumping out water! In my haste I forgot one important step; the drain plug for the bottom of the boat. I throw the throttle into neutral and grab a flashlight. I find the loose plug and the hole it should be in; reunite the two and we are in business again.

As the moon fades away the sun starts to slowly glow in the distance. This a great time to catch fish; especially bass---bass love eating breakfast and I love serving them.

See bass are the fish that eat other fish. They like to hide out and wait for smaller fish and other swimming prey to venture close enough to make it worth their effort. The larger the bass the less chasing it will be willing to do! In my short years of battling with these elusive creatures, I’ve noticed the largest catches I’ve made have been very close to “cover”. In the bass business, “cover” is anything that the fish can hide in, around, under or near. I look for cover-----------

To be Continued next week....

Tom is our Residential Sales Expert here at Chapman Air & Heat. Besides being an excellent fisherman, he is also a darn good writer. So, we asked Tom to write us a couple of "fishy" stories which we will be publishing over the coming weeks. Little did we know that he was going to go out and start a full fledged series. Ahh well, there again is that over-achieving spirit we have come to expert here a Chapman Air & Heat. If you have your own fishy stories, please let us know, or write a comment on this article.