The Better Half

Rice Lake was eerily quiet. The sun's rays penetrated the treeline and shone on the glassy surface, invertly reflecting the world around it. A Lake that is typically infested with boats and pontoons saw only 1 other boat upon arrival (August 5th). This had the potential to be a good day, I thought.

This day, I was to go fishing with my wife. Although my wife is a talented fisher, it is a rare occasion that she suggests that we go fishing; whenever this occurs, I drop everything, grab the gear and throw it in the car before she has time to change her mind. So far, she has been resistant to flinging feather and fur, but I believe that the day will come (hopefully soon) when I will be standing by her side waste deep in one of our favourite trout streams. But today, we were to pursue the Bucketmouth using top-water lures.



Although they say that compromise is the key to a successful marriage, I would hardly refer to this as one. Watching the aggressive attacks on the surface by these voracious predators can be exhilarating and nothing short of a lot of fun.

The bass seemed to still be tight to shore probably because of the cold front and rain that had come through a few days prior, so we stuck to a couple of my favourite spots on the Eastern and Western shorelines.

After about 4 hours of fishing, it wasn't a day of quantity, but it certainly was one of quality. 3 of the fish were in the 3-4 pound range and their classic leaping head-shakes were picture-perfect.




My wife was able to land a spunky one along with a multitude of Pumpkinseeds, Sunfish, Perch and Rockbass. I must report that it was just a perfect day to be out on the water; not because of the big cooperative fish willing to entertain us (although it doesn't hurt of course), but because I saw the joy, the fascination and the thrill of fishing that I feel each time I'm out there in the eyes of my wife. Now I just have to find a way to sneak a fly rod into her hands. . .