After spending most of the season in my bass boat—scouring the depths of local lakes in search of lake trout—I was soon faced with that all too familiar feeling. It starts off as an innocent tingle but left untreated is sure to spread like wild fire and burn just as hot. Yup, I had the itch. The itch is often brought on by staring relentlessly at electronics while jigging for trout, avoiding prime looking back bays in favour of main lake basins and long bouts of basslessness™. In my case it proved to be a medical condition linked to a dirty pedestal seat but I digress.
Some medicated ointment was prescribed and applied and life was good again, I was fishing bass!
Hit the 417 westbound from Ottawa towards Renfrew, stopped in Kingston to pick up my buddy Andre and before long we would be in the Laurentians.
Just minutes after launching the boat, our concerns over a possible blue green algae outbreak were put to rest as we boated one largemouth after another. I was pitching a jig, Andre was lobbing a senko and we were both catching fish. Far from a seasoned pro with a flipping jig, my next pitch came uncharacteristically close to the structure I was aiming for and before I could gloat I felt a thump.
I swung for the fences with the hookset and the rod buckled under the resistance from the other end, the close quarters tug of war began. Feeling the fish surge towards the surface, I reeled frantically to keep tension on it but it was outpacing my 5:1 gear ratio. In what seemed either like slow motion or fast forward (just not real time) I watched helplessly as the beast became airborne and thrashed violently side to side before reentering the water with the grace of a bowling ball. My jig, I thought to myself, it looks like a fly in her mouth—a fly!
After witnessing this I did what any composed angler would do, scream "GET THE NET" as loud as possible (with an expletive or ten for good measure). Andre calmly got the net as I continued flailing around the front deck of the boat in what must have looked like an interpretation of modern dance. As the fish swam right I shuffled right, when it dove left I crouched left and when it jumped I developed temporary rigor mortis. After the third and final jump Andre slid the net under her and she was still green!
This one is going to be tough to beat.
People claimed to know where I caught this fish by the background and I have to be honest—it has been altered quite a bit. Here is the original, taken in the waters around La Ronde.
VIDEO HERE
http://vimeo.com/105712491
