Well, it’s been a while since the Barney and Goober show has had anything funny. This Wednesday we were back.
Tuesday night I called Charlie and told him we had to go fishing for something to write. After talking about what the possible forecast might be and since we were going in his boat, I told him to call me if he wanted to go.
Wednesday morning, up at 6 a.m. and no news from him, I went on a morning run with the puppies and came home. I had another cup of coffee and had just started to sit down when he called.
I asked him if we were still going and he said he was north of Pottsboro and coming. Panicking, I put it into high gear, slipped a cog or two because I thought we were going in my boat, got nothing to eat and left my coffee. I set a new record hanging on the railing
Surprise! I had my boat; he had his boat. It’s getting worse. Looks like last week I told Fish Markets Boathouse owner son Jason Powell that we should go fishing on Wednesday.
As Charlie and I tried to figure out what was wrong, I looked up and Ethan, Jason’s son, was coming up the aisle with rods and reels. Getting old is hell. I had forgotten about that meeting he and I had had the week before.
So there we were, three of us with enough rods and reels to look like a piglet in hand and two boats. Needless to say, we stood there staring at each other as we tried to decide who was guilty; I won.
Finally, the three of us decided to go to Tombstone. Then Charlie said he would take his boat and follow us so we could part while still being close to each other – problem solved.
We left each other and went our separate ways. It was a terrible day. The wind was picking up and getting stronger. Charlie went to the other side of Little Mineral but we could still see each other. We fished some great waters and the best we could do in my boat was Ethan catching a sandbass and snapping a good bass in a flooded weedy area.
I had told him what I fished with at this time of the year. He didn’t take my advice and attached a White Spinner bait and caught two fish on it. We checked with Charlie and he had caught a small Kentucky and missed two more on his Heddon Chugger Jr.
Charlie had a reel locked on him and he had to pull the line hand over fist to get his lure in. He had excess loose line in his boat. I lent him a reel from my spare collection and he left. The next time we met he had taken one more bite but hadn’t caught the fish.
Ethan and I went to Coors Cove and after fishing it I had caught the only fish I had caught and it was a sandbass on a Norman Crank Bait. There were northwesterly storm clouds coming towards us and the wind was getting stronger, so we threw in the towel and went to my cove where we found Charlie charging.
We helped him out of the water. Hearing thunder in the distance, we also charged and left. It wasn’t just us. The guides working in our cove were arriving a little later than usual while we were loading so the fishing might have been harder for the stripers than usual.
There was only one other bass boat that we saw. There were only a few other guides. I think $5 gas might keep some people out of the water. I put 10 gallons in Tombstone and spent almost $50, that’s bad.
This weekend, the Little Dixie Bass Club is hosting its June Tournament on Lake Bonham. Hours are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. They come out of the southern ramp and it’s a partner of choice.
