In short: This is my first solo trip out, paddling the St. Marys by myself, fishing beetle spins for red breast on the way and setting up on a sandbar for the night. The catfish bit steady after dark on the curve. Then in the morning, while I stepped away for a second, something snatched my brand new Zebco 33 off the bank and pulled it into a deep hole over my head, gone before I could reach it.
I put in with a gator right there at the landing and headed down the dead lake toward the main river, throwing a beetle spin and picking at red breast along the way. I like to fish catfish on a curve, where the current digs a deeper hole and the fish hold, so I found my sandbar on a bend with good trees for the hammock. After supper, fresh fajitas cooked over the open fire, I set the old Zebco with a worm on it down at the water and the catfish came one after another. Good ones, too, one swallowed it to the gills. I turned them all loose that night, practicing up for when Tina brought the fish fry fixings the next day.
Come morning I was down cleaning my pan, and I threw a fresh worm out on my brand new Zebco 33 and laid it on the bank. I turned to walk back up and heard a splash. There went my reel. Right out there about ten yards the bottom drops off into a hole over my head, and whatever hit it took the whole outfit straight down. I waded out looking for it, got over my head, and had to chalk it up as a loss. Lesson learned the hard way, never leave a baited rod loose on the bank next to a deep hole. Stake it, tie it, or hold it.
Paddling on toward my meet up spot, I pulled over to show a couple things most folks float right past. On one catfaced pine hung the busted clay pots they used to catch turpentine, back when the naval stores industry was big all through this country. That solid old pine is fat lighter now, enough to start fires for years. Further down, poles stand up out of the water on both sides, the pilings of a bridge that once crossed between Georgia and Florida right there. One time a man stood chopping that tree and hanging those pots. What a different time it is now.
Fishing the curves for catfish, securing your rods so the river does not take them, and reading the old sign left on the banks. It is all in the Fisherman's Playbook.
Read the Fisherman's PlaybookNever leave a baited rod loose on the bank, especially near a deep hole. Stake it down, tie it off to something solid, or set it in a holder that will not tip. A brand new reel can be gone in a second if a strong fish takes it while your back is turned.
Fish the curves after dark. The catfish bit steady through the night on worms fished on the bottom of a bend, where the current digs a deeper hole and the fish hold. A simple Zebco with a worm produced one after another.
The clay pots on catfaced pines are turpentine pots from the old naval stores industry. The poles standing in the river are pilings from a bridge that once crossed between Georgia and Florida. The bank is full of history if you know what to look for.
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