With every gust of wind it carried the faint sound of a covey of quail lost somewhere in the south Texas brush located just 20 yards to my left.
To my right, white caps continued to build off shore. Which leads me to where I stand. Located in between the water was dark due to the combination of a low sky and the submerged grass I continued to work.
Here and there, a pothole glowed through my amber lenses only made visible by the science of captured and diffused light. So there I stand and cast.
Mullet jumped all around with one so brazen as to almost hit me square in the back. It startled me.
In an effort to move on I shook my head and made another cast. I even chuckled because I can only imagine his regret when he saw something bigger than himself as he exited the water.
My lure was simple. A light jighead with a long hook shank centered in the body of a 5” jerkshad. Probably more fitting for an Elite series event in a famous bass lake, I emulated their technique in an effort to try something new.
With every pulse of the rod, I took in slack and with every cast I covered more ground.
Now back to that glowing pothole. As if an apparition, I made sure my lure lived in its presence. Channeling my inner doubting Thomas, I sent my lure to the site I had chosen as if to explore the wounds of Christ, so that I may see and believe. Like before, I twitched my rod and took in slack until my line went tight and my rod surged forward.
Setting the hook. I traced the parabolic bend of the rod to my lures last known whereabouts. Immediately a head emerges accentuated by a large gill flare and a shake only trout anglers know and love.
Overcoming very long strips of drag you get a glimpse of her chrome side. Grey pillowy clouds cause you to lose sight of her black dorsal over the dark grass just below your thigh.
Sure it wasn’t a fish of a lifetime, but in these instances it’s a moment in life where they both collide. In other words, she let her guard down and my lure just so happened to connected to one of the 8 billion people on Earth.
The more I age the more special these moments become. I’m so thankful those quail sang me a song!