Sunrise over the marsh

Earlier today my buddy Kevin and I, along with my Father and Grandfather, embarked on one final fishing adventure before I get laid up for a while. So bright and early at 5 o’clock this morning we grabbed some coffee in Lake Charles and were out on the water before the sun came up. Our bounty? A limit of redfish and a whole lot of good times. (It’s funny how 5 a.m. wakeup is a heck of a lot easier when you aren’t waking up for workouts.)

On the way to the honey hole the sunrise over the marsh was truly something special. I thought to myself, “God must have stayed up extra late last night working on this one.” Nature never fails to amaze me. The sense of peace I get from being in the world as God intended it is extremely therapeutic to my soul. If I had a doubt about whether or not there was a God, being in nature quickly relieved it. It’s amazing how small you can feel when you realize there is no sign of civilization as far as the eye can see. Everywhere I turned there was a different form of wildlife. To one direction was modern day dinosaurs (alligators) and birds of every kind. In the other was fish, insects, and even a mink. Everywhere I turned there was life as God intended it, living uninterrupted and unaware of any of the worlds problems. Their biggest concern was their next meal. If only our problems were that simple!

When we finally reached a spot to anchor up it was time to fish. We started slow, drifting along the reeds throwing our jigs against the grass to no avail. Cast after cast we were coming up empty. You could see a sense of worry sink into some of my groups faces. I could imagine them thinking things like, “We drove all this way and aren’t gonna catch jack!” or  “Well this is a great way to send Shane off into surgery.” What they failed to realize was how unimportant it is for me to catch anything.

Do I love to catch fish. “Yes.” Do I get upset when I don’t? “No.” You see, to me the fun of these trips isn’t the catching, it’s the process. The motoring around, seeing the sights and sounds and conversing with people who for a couple of hours can step away from their cell phones and responsibilities. That’s what fishing is about. It’s about the experience. It’s about enjoying God’s creation as He intended it and becoming one with your surroundings.

Regardless, our luck soon turned around. After moving to a couple of spots we finally started getting some action. It started off with a few flounder but quickly progressed to some reds. If you have never fished redfish I highly suggest you do. There isn’t a fish of it’s size that pulls stronger or fights harder than these rascals do. When you set a hook into one using light tackle you are in for a real treat.

After the bite slowed down we moved to one last location before calling it a day. Here the crabs were a real nuisance. Every time we threw our shrimp there was a crab toying with it. We finally caught a crab and instead of letting it go we decided to let Kevin use it for bait. Boy are we glad we did! Shortly after tossing out the freshly caught crab, something took the bait and ran. By the way the mystery fish was pulling and the sheer strength of the beast we assumed it was a large black drum. Kevin was in for the ride of his life.

After a solid 15 minutes of reeling he decided to take a seat. This battle was no where near finished and if Kevin wanted to land this fish it was going to take every ounce of energy he had. Thirty minutes passed and the fish still hadn’t surfaced. This was either a monster or it was a monster, no doubt about it. Soon forty five minutes passed and the fish was finally showing signs of fatigue.

At last it surfaced and I couldn’t believe my eyes! Kevin had landed a 35-40 pound drum on his 10 lb test line. The drag had been set perfect for this colossal battle, resulting in Kevin hauling in the biggest fish of his life. He was both pumped up and exhausted, excited and relieved, he had just spent close to an hour fighting this monster and it had finally paid off. After wrestling the fish into the boat and taking plenty of pictures it was time to release the fish and head on back to the house.

It was a sad moment seeing such a gorgeous day come to an end, but spending it in God’s playground with some great people made it sting a lot less. With many memories made and my voyage now over it was time to head home where another adventure awaits…ACL rehab #3. Third times a charm, right?

Below are some pics from the trip

Redfish I caught

Kevin’s monster drum!

6 foot gator under the boat dock

Trolling through the marsh

God’s beautiful creation

Categories: My Journal