DAY 53: GONE FISHIN'

I went on a Guy's Fishing Trip once.

It wasn't supposed to be that way.

According to my husband, it held all the promise of something fabulous.

We would have a private cabin on Lake Cumberland, be taken out on a fully equipped fishing boat with sonar/depth finder and a knowledgable guide to escort us around.

He was so sufficiently pumped about the idea that I reluctantly agreed to take a precious vacation day off from work.

It was April and spring was in the air. Being on the river did seem like a nice spring-y thing to do.

I had no idea I would be the only female present on the trip until I was hopelessly entrenched in this extravaganza.  

I am sure this was an expensive undertaking for our host. I'm also sure it would have been great fun if we'd been more prepared - and if the weather had cooperated. But we weren't, and it didn't.

This is our host, Eddie Hager. He'd just welcomed us to the cabin and was leaving to play cards with the guys. That's when I found out I was the lone female on the trip.

WE were welcome to come by for some cards, of course.

Okie dokie then! I thought I would sit this card game out. This looked like one rough bunch of characters to me!

We really wanted a bite to eat, and were advised there was a restaurant just a few miles away. Eddie said he thought it was called "Granny's". That sounded nice.

He was right. It WAS called Granny's. Back when it was in operation, that is.

Granny bar the door? That place was VACANT.

By this time we were STARVING!

The only remaining option was the Marina. But by the time we got there...the only things left were a couple of friendly faces and some cardboard pizza.

The shame was if I'd only known, I could have brought some food along from home - the cabin was equipped with everything and it would have been easy to have a feast if we'd brought just a few groceries.

But oh well. We ate pizza and watched something about Courtney Love on TV and then went to bed. We had to turn in early, because serious fishermen get up at an ungodly hour. I was determined not to oversleep.

 

Well, here is Stephen and our guide. We're in the boat and on the water already. Breakfast? No time for that! It was about 5 AM. It was also raining.

In addition, an unforcasted cold front was sweeping the area. As luck would have it, our fishing day turned absolutely FRIGID. It even snowed that day!!! 

The guide kept apologizing for the surprise weather conditions, and I guess it really was a surprise in mid-April. He kept saying he couldn't remember worse weather for an April fishing trip. When the snow started falling, my friends at work had a big laugh thinking of me out on that fishing boat on such a day!

  

 

 I could see how this could have been a wonderful day. My dad - an avid fisherman - would have been all about it! We were out on the river in an amazing boat with an awesome guide. But I was simply freezing beyond belief! I was mercifully allowed to cower from the rain inside the boat, but I was already wet and the wind whipped me at every opportunity. 

 This might look like a toilet and it might look like this guy is stirring something up, but he's not. Or so they said.

 

   This is one of the funniest moments of the trip. The guide had just measured Stephen's first catch. It wasn't big enough to keep and had to be thrown back in. It was one inch too short. Thinking back on it, that fish was probably freezing too and all hunched up on itself trying to stay warm. On a hot day it probably would have been stretched out enough to keep.

The rain stopped in the early afternoon. That was a welcome relief after hours aboard the Arctic Blizzard. It was still cold, but tolerable. Here, you can see the redbuds beginning to emerge on the banks of the river - a pleasant sight.

 

This guy was hilarious. He provided me some much needed comic relief. He also caught the first legal fish of the day.

 Remember those wild looking card playing guys? Here they are, proudly displaying their catch. They were just normal hard working guys having a good time on the river. If I had only seen them in card-playing mode I would have left with an entirely different opinion of them. 

Thanks for the memories, but I hope to never EVER be trapped into such a miserable trip again!