‘Tis a Busy April
Wandering Aimlessly
by Phil Burkhouse
Mentored Youth Fishing day, last Saturday, dawned snowy and a balmy 25 degrees. I knew Big Jake was going to drive and mentor the Bear, and that was a scary thought. Jake is 17 and can’t fish as a youth, but he could fish and mentor Wes. Wes likes to fish for several hours and then head in, but Jake is hardcore and will fish from dawn to dusk without a break. I had heard Jake say to Wes, “I’ll mentor you, and we’ll fish all day.” I could see a problem brewing on the horizon.
Isaac, aka Zeke, was headed with his dad for a hotspot in Cameron County, and the two Walters brothers were headed for Potter County. Cora, being the smartest of the crew, would wait for it to warm up and join her dad and big brother later in the morning. No one was going to keep any fish, and I wondered as cold as the water was how their luck would be. I was headed for one of the duck blinds since I had some early morning sun and would catch up with the gang when they would rendezvous around 11 a.m.
I snuggled in my blind around 7 a.m. and got the camera and tripod set up and ready to roll. Around eight I heard peeping and knew woodies were in the area. I set down my book, picked up my release, moved the Canon into position; the next 2 ½ hours were pure ecstasy. I shot 270 pictures, and by 10:30 the woodies had departed, and my legs felt like rigor mortis was setting in. I headed to the Subaru to check on the crew and see how the fishing was going.