That First Fish

I put the fishing boat in the water today. I also found sections of my dock that had blown away in yesterday's wind. All is right with the world, again.
I don't fish in Ohio. Know why? I may have divulged this bit of trivia before but it still boggles my mind. There are no inland natural lakes in the state. There are some large ones, Grand St. Mary's lake, for instance.It's lengthy, around 15x8 in miles and 5-7 feet in depth. Now, get this. It was made in the early 1800's and was hand dug! That was the age of rugged individualism. There weren't any Hispanics around to do the job, either. Thank God for the Irish. Their daily pay included a pint of whiskey and a dollar. Another reason I don't go test the waters in the Buckeye state is because the water is always murky. I can have a lure three inches below water level and can't see it. At my lake in Minnesota I've seen northern pike gulp a rapala from thirty feet. It gets my adrenaline going.
I enjoy going out in the boat my myself. Sometimes I'll have guests with us and they want to go fishing. After about an hour they get bored and try and catch blue gills or they get their line tangled. One guy dropped my best rod and reel in twelve feet of water. Another reason to have clear water. We were able to snag it. I reach my limit with these "faux" fishermen when they cast a lure and it hooks me. That's when I say, "Let's go eat".
Today I did some casting at a couple of my favorite spots; no luck. Understandable for this 4,600 acre lake. It's summertime. The fish are a on vacation. I decided to troll with a mini-walleye. Only five minutes into it I had a hit. The interesting thing about the first fish, especially since I haven't cast a line in almost a year, is it feels like a lunker----in my mind. I set the hook the way Ali downed Frazier-Kaaabam!
I reel and set the hook again. Finally, I landed my six inch bass. Next time I won't get so excited. My friends can't believe I enjoy the solitude of being on the lake by myself. To coin a phrase, "I've got ants in my pants". I need to be doing something all the time and if I get bored it's onto something else. Fishing is the only thing in my life that affords me the opportunity to relax and I like it that way.
Time to stop. I have to go to church and thank the Lord for the six incher.