Two Retired Men in Search of Trout…
What could go wrong?
By Wayne Morgenthaler
Trout season starts out in May for catch and keep. This is a wonderful time to fish, as the weeds along the creeks are all knocked down. Now fast forward to September. My buddy says let’s go to one of his favorite holes, and we will try to get one of those big browns. I am all excited, but he is taking me to a secret spot. We are at the stream at 7:30 in the morning. I left my cell phone at home but remembered the night crawlers. As we begin our mile ironman trial run in knee high boots back to the best fishing hole in the county, he says the grass is awful high. It is amazing what 4 months of rain can do to the landscape. I would guess the weeds approach somewhere between 3 and 4 feet and covered with heavy dew. There wasn’t any trail to follow, so we just headed across the swamp. By the time we made it to the stream we were completely soaked, breathing hard, and the nightcrawlers thinking spring was back. First fish was a nice white horse sucker, second fish was a nice white horse sucker, and third fish was a snag in a tree. Then his cell phone rings, by now we are not in viewing distance. My name comes up on screen. He thinks I have a big one on, but it is my wife calling to tell him I need to come home right away. We then decided to take a short cut. We had only walked 10 yards when he fell in a big hole. I told him he was lucky he didn’t break his leg. Then he goes another 10 yards and falls into a beaver run way he couldn’t see. Not so lucky this time as he got two boots full of water. Now he is starting to feel a little bit beat up. Along comes a nice hidden clump of dirt that knocks him down like he was tackled by a linebacker. I then decided it is my time to take the lead and walk us back safely to the car. When we arrived back to the house, I thanked him for the guided trip. He also asked me if he could have a couple of aspirins.