Perseverance

Back in the day, I never believed that while fishing, such a thing as “The Bite” existed.  Having guided commercially now for some 14 years, though, boy, has my thinking changed!  Some days, the bite starts hot, then turns cold.  Other days, vice-versa. And then there are the nearly “No-Bite” days.  So it was today for Jeff and for his guest, Reverend Jim, on the Muskegon River.

Who knows? Was it the heavy rain that colored the water? The cold front that knocked out the 90’s that have blanketed West Michigan for the last couple of weeks? Whatever it was, it wasn’t pretty: some small rock bass and undersized smallmouth bass.  That was it until the solid smallie Jeff poses blasted his popper.  And, as fate would have it, “The Bite” just started to come on as we finished our half day trip!

Totally cool, though, was the progress Jim, our novice caster, made with his casting.  In four hours, he went from struggling to lay out line to turning his popper over at some very respectable distances.  Way to go Jim!   Even better, given that Jim lives on a small lake replete with buster largemouth bass, the fly rod that has remained in his closet gathering dust is about to get some protracted workouts!

Great day, guys, in spite of the lousy “Bite.”  Just goes to show that perseverance pays on days like today and the fact that this fly fishing thing is way more than hookup after hookup, day after day.

Captain Tom Kuieck