Happy Birthday to Me (and my brother)

It was my (and my brother’s) birthday this weekend and I decided to go catch me a birthday present. Knowing the Susky wouldn’t dare disappoint on such a monumentous occasion (yes I’ve had a few libations and yes I actually thought monumentous was a real word but apparently it’s not), I grabbed my favorite rod, hopped in the truck, and trekked westward to a place on the river that just so happened to also be near my favorite local brewery (see above parentheses). The goal was to catch a monster, here it is:

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This is exactly where I would have put the picture of me with a lunker pike/walleye/musky had the Susky actually cared that it was my birthday. But apparently it doesn’t. In fact, the Susky continues to deliver me nothing but L’s (losses for those over 40 years of age). I went today to this spot:

And caught nothing. It’s really unbelievable with this river. I mean, its my freaking birthday (well, birthday-weekend, as a grown man I’m allowed to extend my birthday across several days and expect all to comply). Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some good catches the past few weeks but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect to catch a world-record fish the day-ish my wonderful mother delivered not one, but TWO children. But the Susky refused. Speaking of which, here’s another person-ish that didn’t remember to get me a present:

I really don’t ask much from Bubz. He doesn’t work, doesn’t chip in with any bills, and doesn’t do much around the apartment other than deposit an astonishing amount of hair everywhere. But the idea he wouldn’t even, I don’t know, at least give me some breathing room while eating my homemade Southern fried chicken is really disappointing:

Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great dog. In fact, he’s the best dog. And I mean that literally, he is better than your dog if you have one (and if you don’t then what are you doing with your life?). But I just can’t help but think Bubz is taking advantage of me. It makes me feel like a sucker sometimes, but he’s just too cute. Don’t know what I mean by sucker? See below:

Woops! Sorry, don’t know how that picture got in here. I actually meant to put this picture:

You’re probably thinking, “What the heck is that?” Well, that fish is literally called a Sucker. I caught it right as the sun was going down at another river called the ‘Nango. I’m pretty sure my lure just accidentally caught it but I’m glad it did. Catching a new species is always great, but even better when its a fish as unique as the one above. And I shouldn’t be so hard on Bubz. I mean, he has to put up with me taking a picture of him every 5 seconds:

Sorry, but the above blog has just been an attempt to cover up the fact that I failed at my pursuit of a lunker this weekend. But I don’t want to dwell too much on this – in fact, I’d like to focus on the lunker fish I did catch. Last week I decided to fish what looked like a really promising spot on the Susky. I found a nice bend in the river that got deep and felt like there was a good chance of a predator worth bringing home in there. But of course no dice. So I decided to walk further down the bank and found a fallen tree. For those that don’t know, bass especially but most fish love to hang around structures in the water. So if you decide to fish and see something like this:

Then you got a shot at catching a fish. I decided to toss out a jig (it’s a lure designed to handle weeds and stuff so you don’t lose it) and jiggle it around a bit. First toss and nothing. Second toss I decided to be a little more patient. And then BAM! It was a short but very intense fight. Here’s probably the biggest or second biggest smallie (smallmouth bass) I’ve ever caught:

I realize the above picture is not great for understanding the magnititude of this bad boy. Here is a small smallie I caught on my actual birthday:

Not a big guy, but a nice fish right? Well the length of my arms haven’t changed and this is me trying to take the exact same picture with the lunker:

Look I don’t mean to brag, but this is a gigantic smallie. It was super tough to reel in despite the fact it was only like 5 feet away. I legitimately gasped when I landed it. Some people (see: Tommy) only focus on the pretty fish like trout. Don’t get me wrong, trout are great but nothing beats a good bass (also, see: I’m More of a (b)Ass Man Myself). Especially smallies, they are hyper aggressive and do not like being caught – all of which makes for a challenging and fun experience.

I’ve caught other smallies as well and even revisited pikes (albeit a much smaller version) but I’m going to hold off on that stuff until next blog because I’m revisiting a few spots I’ve had some initial success at in the next few weeks. I’m hoping with cooler waters the big boys (and girls) start coming closer to shore and I get to see some of the fish I’ve really been after. While I still plan on fishing when it gets real cold, if you’re thinking about it I’d say you got 3 weeks to give it a try before it gets icy. I suggest you…

Cast and Pray,

Jon (Bonus Bubz pic below)