Blue Moon Rising – Adventure of the Week

Last Updated on June 15, 2018 by Terry

Good morning friends. Yes, I have a lot of friends and most of them fish. Usually we fish with each other. But, sometimes a fellow has been known to take his wife fishing with him. I’ve done it myself. Most of my friends believe that if they take their wife along sometime, it will keep them out of the dog house, therefore allowing them to then go fishing with their friends most of the time. I took my wife for a different reason.

We had been married for about a year and a half and I talked her into going on a 3-night camp out. We fished alright, but I wanted her to get a good sample of what roughing it means. After three days and nights of wilderness bathroom facilities, I knew I would never have to take her on an overnight fishing trip again.

Don’t get the wrong idea; we have spent many nights out together. But, doing the things she likes to do. We’re going to San Antonio in June of 2018. River Walk, great Mexican food, balcony at the motel, Sea World, indoor bathroom facilities, and whatever else she wants to do. She even mentioned some mall in the area. That’s how you stay out of the dog house.

One distant Memorial Day weekend, some friends of mine took their wives on an all-day fishing trip. The friend that instigated this event knew his wife wanted them to do something together for the holiday weekend, so he invited her fishing. She thought about it and told her husband that she would go if they invited some more couples along.

He agreed, and three couples headed out to Maddox Bay, Arkansas, one of our favorite destinations. They arrived pretty early that morning, and after getting all three boats launched, they headed for the slough that leads to Adams Lake.

My buddy was very familiar with the area and had a great plan. He would instruct the other two couples to fish in Adams Lake and he would take his wife and head north out of Adams through another slough that led to Eagles Nest Lake. It wasn’t really a secret honey hole, but it was a very good fishing spot due to the effort it would take to get there. The more difficult a lake to get into, the less people will be there fishing. You know, more fish for us.

It starts by having to drag your boat over an earthen beaver dam as you approach Adams Lake. This means you have to get out in the shallow water at the edge of the dam and both participants get on each side and pull the boat over a little at a time. Through the years, friends have asked us why we continue to fish out of small flat bottom boats. Easy, try tugging an eighteen-foot Ranger with a 200 horse Merc over a beaver dam!

Once the first obstacle is accomplished, you motor into Adams about two hundred yards. You then turn right into Eagle Nest Slough. This requires exiting the boat again to drag the boat over the first log blocking the way. The slough eventually shallows up and now it will only float with one person in it.

My friend climbed over the side and had his wife sit in the middle of the boat with the ice chest in order to spread the weight evenly and float at its best. He waded the slough towing the boat and wife to the second log that was blocking the way. After shooing a snake off the log and assuring his wife it was not a poisonous snake, and after about fifteen minutes, he convinced her to climb into the water and help drag the boat over the log. After crossing the second log you are now in the edge of the lake and can begin to reeling in the many fish available. And boy did they! They had an ice chest full of bass, crappie, and bream in just a few hours.

The most exciting part of their trip was the seven pounder his wife caught. No, it was not a bass but a Grinnell. Technically named Bowfin. It is some kind of prehistoric looking devilry with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. They are real fighters and really put on a show once they are hooked.

As she got it close to the boat, the husband whopped it a couple of times with the wooden paddle. She did not understand that this was merely self-defense against the sea monster and was screaming at him to stop hurting her fish. Finally, after he had subdued it with the paddle, he gave her a close-up view of its mouth and those teeth.

She understood and realized that the snake on the log was not the scariest creature in the water. Before their day was over she had caught several of the monster fish but did not scream at her husband anymore as he removed them from the hook in the usual fashion.

Her actual best game fish of the day was the bluegill bream she caught that weighed over a pound! Six or seven-pound Grinnell are a dime a dozen but a bream over a pound, most bream fishermen go a lifetime and never catch one that big.

The problem with having spent good portion of the day in Eagle Nest is now you have to make the return trip in reverse order. Drag over the second log first, after shooing the snake again. This also entailed convincing his wife to exit the boat into the water. But this time he had to make up some kind of lie about Grinnell not being in sloughs connecting two lakes but only stayed in the lake itself. Somehow, she bought it and got out and helped with the boat over the log duties.

Then he would tow the boat with his wife in it until you reach to first log second and convince her to get out and help get the boat over that one, then fire up the motor and head to the beaver dam. The good news about the beaver dam is that the other couples are now traveling with you, so you have more help to drag all three boats over.

The other couples kind of struck out fishing, but they were able to share in the fish fry feast the next night back at home.

A few days after the trip, the wife of one of our other friends had heard about the group fishing expedition. “Your friends took their wives fishing?” she questioned him at supper that night.

He got up from his chair, went to the window and looked out. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“I was making sure the moon was blue.” he responded.

He was having trouble believing that three of his fishing buddies had really taken their soul mates fishing to Maddox Bay. He is familiar with the area and still wonders how they were able to maneuver through that obstacle course.

He went back to his supper and wondered why his wife kept giving him the look.

Learning opportunity: Use your phone or computer and research “once in a blue moon” if you do not already understand the old saying.

And by the way, it was on Memorial Day. If you are unsure of what that means, get your phone or computer back out and look that up also.

While you’re in the mood, if you have never seen a Grinnell/Bowfin, look that up also.