Sunday, March 27, 2011

Skunk Times 3


Or was it 4?It's been over a week since I had my string of not so memorable fishing trips on my local waters in Southeast Virginia so you have to forgive me.As always it was nice to get out rather than being a loaf on the couch.It would have been better to catch fish which was the intended purpose of putting the boat in the water.It happens every year though and I have nobody to blame but myself.It's like a bad habit that I refuse to kick no matter how much everyone tells me it's all wrong.Going fishing for bass when the air temperature warms up,yet the water is still quite cold.I feel that sweet warmth of the sun and I get this bug that tells me the fish must be biting,surely with these two days above 60 degrees they are out and hungry.How wrong I was,again and again and again.The funny thing is,I'm not the only one who goes out early every year and gets skunked,repeatedly,days in a row.I learned that even the "pro" bass fishermen with all of the fancy gear and 3000 hp motors can't find fish all the time.On a side note,the "pro" guys in my new neck of the woods seem to be a little more tolerable.We still aren't exactly on the same page when it comes to enjoying the entire outdoors experience but I will try and let that go.I took the time to explore some of the feeder creeks to the river,got some excellent pictures and found a few wood duck holes for this November that I will revisit.I'm aware the waterfowl season just ended,I never stop looking.The big event of the Spring happens when I get home in a few weeks,MAN CAMP! For those of you that have tuned in over the last year let me fill you in.Man Camp is a once a year event that myself and a few friends have hosted for eight years now.Every Spring,the tents get aired out,fishing poles get re-spooled.friendships get renewed and a bunch of dudes go to the woods to get away.As you may get from the title Man Camp is just that,a camp for men.There is no bitching about anything.Your personal life,we don't care.your wife,kids,job,whatever,just leave it at home.We all gather in the woods at the same camp site every Spring to have a good time,throw around a few jokes,drink a few beers and not get any sleep.The attendees have ranged from two full sets of brothers,six total to my old landlord and good friends father all the way from Vermont.We have dealt with temperatures from 40 degrees and mist all weekend to 85 degrees with plenty of ticks and chiggers.I ended up on antibiotics for tick and chigger bites last year,can't wait to do it again!So there it is back at work for a few weeks then the official kick off to Spring happens.Thanks for reading and get outside!I wanted to put more pictures up but the internet siganl isn't the greatest in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay

3 comments:

Kirk Mantay said...

Well, this early spring has taught me two important lessons.

1) pondwater warms up faster than river water, and

2) i am an awesome fisherman.

tugboatdude said...

dude,you are RIDICULOUS!don't get me wrong I enjoy bass fishing in a pond but come on,where be da challenge my brotha?

Downeast Duck Hunter said...

A get together where you can has certain bylaws that prohibit complaining about the crap in life... sounds like good therapy...