In Search of Fishable Waters

In Search of Fishable Waters

            Where ever I go, I have to scout out the fishing waters. If there is a drainage ditch with a couple of tadpoles in it, I will find a way to get a hook in there and catch them. You laugh, but me and my brother have done that, and I will save that for another post. Like some of you know, I am stuck here at semi-beautiful Fort Knox, Kentucky and the urge to fish is killing me. We had a wicked ice storm yesterday and like the weather of Missouri, today it was in the upper forties and beautiful. So I spent the better part of the morning tearing into 3 trusty fishing reels and making them work again. If you are familiar with fishing gear and have been doing it for a while then you know that the original Zebco 33 fishing reel is pretty much the most trusty piece of fishing gear ever made.

            I remember using these when I was a kid and the models that we had were old because they were dads and he was old. As a matter of fact, the reels that I was working on today were the same ones I used when I was a kid and they were looking and running a little rough. They were easy fixes though; a little cleaning out, grease, and oil and they were running like they were brand new. Holding those reels in my hands really took my mind back. I don’t remember things to well but the feel of twisting the handles on them reminded me of sitting on river banks with my brother and dad, drinking Mountain Dews and eating peanuts while we waited for some ol’ catfish to take our bait. Or standing in my back yard practicing casting and asking mom to untangle my line from the cloths line because I couldn’t reach it.

            They are great memories, all wrapped around those little pieces of metal and gears. The oldest of the reels I am going to give back to dad because he is old and he likes to use them. (Haha ok that is the last time I say your old dad haha) And the other two I plan on putting on new poles for my boys. It just feels right to have those reels get past down in hopes that they have just as much fun and hiliarious moments as we did with them. So after my little trip down memory lane I was dying to find some water. I don’t have a fishing license here so was just wanting to burn some gas and see where all the spots around base were so when I did get a license I could head straight there.

            I hopped in the old Jeep, opened up the window, put a fat chew in, cranked up some classic country and started cruising the strip in search of fishable waters. I don’t know how I do it but there are two things I am good at finding. Trouble and fishable waters and I found both of them today. The first road that I blindly turned down had all kinds of signs that told me, DO NOT ENTER, MILITARY VEHICLES ONLY, and the last one said MILITARY PERSONEL ONLY.  Well I am in the military so I felt that I was allowed to be there but the young private with a 9mm on his hip disagreed with me.

“Sir, I am going to have to ask you to turn your vehicle around and depart the area.”

“Hey buddy! How you been?” This is a technique I use quite often to deter angry people wanting to fight me or people trying to keep me from fish.

“Sir, I do not know you.  You need to turn your Jeep around, you can’t be here.”

“What, ya’ll got a UFO back there?” Wrong thing to ask cause his buddy got out of the MP car and started walking to my Jeep.

“SIR! You need to leave. Now.” His friend wasn’t very nice either.

“Alright, alright. Hey, ya’ll know where any ponds are at around here?” They didn’t answer me; they just stared at me and pointed the way I came.

“Well nice seeing you again buddy. Hey, wrestling is on tonight if you wanna come by. You know, wrestle around like we used too? Haha, yooou know.” I turned my Jeep around. I could hear the private thru my open window telling his Sgt., “No, I swear I have never seen that guy…”

So heading back the way I came I just so happened to see a dirt road that had a sign that said, STEEP HILL USE LOW GEAR and right next to that there is a smaller sign that says Sander’s Lake.

Eureka!

I found me some water. The hill was really steep as the sign said so I put the Jeep in low gear, then I realized that at the bottom of the hill, there was really thick sheets of ice were a creek used to be, over really jagged rocks leading to a cliff…oooooh crap.

I tried to hug the right side of the road but even with the four wheel drive going, my Jeep hit the jagged rocks, lurched into the air, and started sliding towards the edge. Patsy Cline was blaring on the radio but she could not be heard over my shouts of, “HOOOOLY CRAP! DON’T ROLL! DON’T ROLL! WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!” I slid right to the end of the ice and continued on down the road singing I Fall to Pieces.

            At the bottom of the hill I found a good sized lake and to my surprise there was an old couple with lawn chairs and poles already in the water, but I didn’t see a vehicle. I pulled down next to them.

“How ya’ll doing? Catching any?”

“Nah, just got here. Hey, uh, that other road over there is a lot easier to get down.” He said laughing and pointing up the pond bank. There was a beautiful, paved road and a nice parking lot with one car sitting in it. I started laughing and said, “Yeah that looks a lot easier than the way I came down.”

The old man smiled and said laughing, “Yeah we heard you coming down the hill.”

            After making friends I went up to the Game Shack was if I would have to go to get a license and talked to the lady behind the counter to find out what the base rules on fishing were.

“Hello, how much is a fishing license?”

“A Kentucky license is $24 and to fish the ponds on base you will need an $8 license as well.”

“WHAT!”

“I said a Kentucky license...” Apparently she thought I was hard of hearing…

“No, I’m sorry. I heard you I just didn’t believe what I was hearing. For that amount of money the fishing better be freakin’ awesome here.”

“I wouldn’t know I don’t fish.”

“You guys have a map that shows where the fishing ponds are at around here?”

“Yes, sir. They are $5.”

“What!?”

“I said, they are $5.”

“Never mind.”

You would think with the price of maps and fishing license they would have better signs for their lakes and have much better roads!