Got a nice surprise from a good buddy of mine. One of those phones calls where minutes turn to hours.
Danny and I haven't spoke in over a year. I changed my number since moving from Norcal to the PNW and life has just got in the way. I've been off the grid since my car accident trying to recover and keep perspective on a short supply of sleep. Danny had tried calling a good bit and wondered if I had gotten mobbed by Antifa or maybe been battling the 'rona. Fortunately neither ha..
We catch up and talk about how our families are doing. He'd been hunkered down in Norcal sword fighting with the local fishermen on Lake Don Pedro and New Melones. Going through a number of boats to find the one that works and putting in a lot of time hunting for big ones.
"Everyone's fishing it seems, place is getting hammered. Tournaments and weights are down big time..."
We jump down memory lane and talk about a number of days on the water that led to 50 and 60lb limits and how they heavily contrasted with the present (read our interview on TackleTour if you haven't). Danny laughs and understands he had a great thing going after moving up from Castaic in the 90's.
"It's ok I know there are still some real giants in there.. Oh hey I stuck a good one on your bait." Oh ya which one? "The 8.5"er! I checked a spot that I used to have some great days on, but hasn't really panned out for some time. I pulled in tight on a point and fired out over deep water, brought the bait in slow with some jerks and she hit in about 15" of water. Healthy looking fish. Sorry I only got one pic because I was excited to fire the bait back out there and catch another." Oh that's alright I said I know how it goes.. well vaguely anyway.
What did she weigh? "She went 13.1 and is my biggest of the year." Right on! That's a giant. Did you have any luck after that? "No but that bait has been a great search bait for me this year and pulls them out". Awesome I said glad you got a good one, I could use one of those right about now.
We talk some more and he maps out his plan and what he intends to do. I said let's keep in touch as the fall bite keeps unfolding and text me a pic of that giant! "Ya now that I have your number I'll do that."
We start to finish the conversation talking about the state of affairs in the country and a round of politrics. We don't agree on all the issues at hand and what's led us here, but we both whole heartedly agree that taking care of family,friends and the community takes front seat. Also so much of this bs is out of our control.
We talk some more about the big fish he caught and I asked if I should leave out some details (knowing how much time he puts in). He said "You know what NO if guys can go out there and catch 'em right now they deserve it". I was shocked hearing this from a guy it took me nearly 5 years to get an interview with ha. "Fishing has been so tough the last number of years go ahead. My hats off to the guys who have the fire in them to go out and put the time in."
I walk away from the conversation thinking about how much I missed talking to Danny and how important it is to reconnect with people around you with a healthy perspective. In a world where social media and our phones act like a leash it's far too easy to get caught up in negativity.. especially during times like now. Hopefully everyone out there is social distancing on the water if not surrounding themselves with people who are putting the time into keeping a healthy perspective.
Be well guys..