You’re doing it wrong…

One of my favorite times fishing was during an occasion where I was doing everything wrong, but I landed something memorable. 

The thing that I like most about fishing is that you never know how the day will turn out.  Of course, there are things you can do to improve your chances, such as lure selection, technique, and fishing during ideal weather conditions, but as we all know nothing is guaranteed.  I have had many days where I went fishing where I do everything correctly and I won’t have a bite.  There are other days where I go fishing where I am not focused as much on the things I mentioned above and have tight lines all day. 

One day in particular my wife and I were out enjoying the day on our first family boat.  It was a Tahoe Q5i fish/ski, blue with white interior.  While cruising around East Fork Lake in southeastern Ohio, we decided to pull into a cove and hang out.  She wanted to sunbathe, and I was cracking open the cooler to get us something to drink.  She was making herself comfortable so I figured I would use the trolling motor and make a few casts.  We had the radio on, and we disturbed the area quite a bit while pulling into the cove so I was not really focused on fishing if I am honest. 

As expected, nothing was finding my lure attractive.  My wife (who knows almost nothing about fishing) mentioned she saw some disturbance on the opposite side of the cove from where I was fishing and suggested I try my luck on the other side.  I remember the sun was cooking that side of the cove so I was reluctant to go over there, however I figured what the heck.  First cast into where she pointed, I had something. 

I was fishing for bass so I wasn’t prepared for anything else, and I didn’t even know anything else was in the lake.  To my surprise a long muscular fish was on the end of my line!   I took my time bringing it into the boat because I had on a small crank bait with 6 pound line.  Once it was in the net I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  To me it looked like a muskie, which to this modest fisherman was a big deal. 

I didn’t know they were in the lake so I sent a picture to my friend who supported my assumption.  After a few pictures, back in the lake it went.  Once I was back in the truck I did a little research and found out that muskie were stocked at East Fork years ago. 

My wife said she had never seen me so genuinely excited.  To me it was a very exciting day and one memory I will always have with my wife.  She isn’t into the sport like my son and I are so being able to catch such a memorable fish with her means the world to me.