More
than a year in the making neither I nor my special guest Michael Pearce were willing to
postpone our fishing trip to McPherson Lake even though it was cold, windy and
totally miserable.
Besides,
this was a dream come true for Michael…getting an opportunity to fish with your
faithful and humble servant…the “Greatest Unknown Fisherman of all Time”…me…and
I wasn’t about to ruin it for him. (I am
pretty sure this is how he looked at it although he didn’t actually say
it. I’m thinking he was probably too
“awestruck” at the time to say so directly.)
Michael Pearce, for those members not
living in Wichita, KS, is the Outdoor writer for the Wichita Eagle. What you may
not know about Michael is that he was a very accomplished outdoor writer and
photographer long before applying his immense talents for
the paper. In fact, he has written
outdoor articles for such prestigious publications as the Wall Street Journal
and Outdoor Life magazine along with numerous other publications.
Even
if you follow his Wichita Eagle articles every Sunday (as well as his Blog) you
may not be aware that he is also an extremely talented and recognized
photographer having, as part of his resume’, one of his photographs published
on the front cover of Outdoor Life magazine…!
NOTE: If you aren’t currently following his Blog (Michael Pearce’s Kansas Outdoors)
you definitely need to…so please go sign-up now at http://www.blogs.kansas.com/outdoors It is EASILY
the best overall outdoor Blog in the state of Kansas where he covers a
multitude of topics as only he can…and…it’s the second best Blog in Kansas when
he covers fishing in the state of Kansas.
J J J
I
have known Michael for probably 25-years…dating back to when he was doing
freelance work and I owned one of the largest hunting clubs in the nation. We often saw each other at sport shows around
Kansas…usually him giving presentations and me manning my show booth. Michael first came to my attention while I
was living in Kansas City when he wrote a book on turkey hunting called “Eye
on the Turkey”…a book no longer in print.
Even
now…many, many years later I still tell people it is one of the best outdoor
books I have ever read. In short “Eye”
is the name of a Missouri turkey hunting legend Ray Eye and the book was about
his turkey hunting exploits and techniques.
But…it was SO MUCH MORE than that. So impressed was I after reading it I took it
to a sport show and asked him to autograph it for me, and I still have that
book to this day.
Which begs the question…now that Michael
has fished with me (a fishing legend) is a future book in the making about
me…you know…the “Greatest Unknown Fisherman of all Time”…the “Hemingway of Fishing Blogs”…? It could be called, “Clay’s Confessional…the Truth Behind the Legend”. Hey…I’m just sayin’…!
Footnote: I’m hard at work on my own biography. I'm calling it, “Dropped
Kicked Through the Field Goal of Life”. For those who don’t know what “dropped
kicked” means in football language just “Google it”…it’s not a good thing…at
least for the football…!
So
that brings us to April of this year. A
day that demanded we fish because Michael had a paper deadline and I was his
only subject matter for that week...which probably says something if I was to
stop and think about it. So…I’m not
going to.
Now
if you have followed this Blog for any length of time you know that “Murphy’s
Law” was actually only a footnote in history until I came along. I am the one personally responsible for
popularizing “Mr. Murphy”.
Well…you
guessed it…he decided to ride along again on this trip…as usual.
It’s
bad enough that the weather turned incredibly cold…the wind was gusting to
30-mph…water temperatures had dropped…and that a front was moving through. But when “Mr. Murphy” decided that my entire
boat trailer should come off the trailer hitch while traveling halfway up the
steep gravel road leading to the lake…well, that just couldn’t be a
coincidence. I knew that this “Murphy”
guy was at it again.
How embarrassing was this…!
Here
I am, “The Greatest Unknown Fisherman of all Time” losing his entire fishing rig
(boat/trailer) off the trailer hitch while Michael Pearce, the incomparable
outdoor writer for the Wichita Eagle, is in the car with me planning to do an
article for next week’s edition. I just
knew this little incident was going to show up in the article. I just knew it…! But…surprise…it
didn’t…!
I
say “surprise” because you also probably don’t know that Michael has a great
sense of humor…particularly it seems if it involves me. He calls me the “The Greatest Unknown Fisherman
in My Own Mind”. Seriously…he
really does. Can you imagine that? What?
What do you mean, “You can”? I
have noticed that there are a lot of sick people that follow this Blog.
Trust
me when I say the pressure was on to catch a fish…the pressure was on. Michael didn’t care how bad the weather
was…he needed me to catch a fish. I
needed me to catch a fish if only to keep the “Streak” alive at 19-consecutive
lakes without being skunked.
But…regardless
of how tough the conditions…I felt it was my personal responsibility to insure
he caught the first fish. Hey…that’s
just the kind of guy I am. Besides, this
was his “dream trip” remember. So…using
my incredibly well honed fish catching senses (not to mention my well developed
fish location skills) I quickly motored us to a nearby bank. What a coincidence…it just happened to be the
only protected bank on the entire lake.
Imagine the good luck…!
This
bank not only allowed us to fish but kept me out of most of the strong wind
since I had failed to bring a warm jacket.
So…with all the skill I could muster… (And trust me it took a LOT of
skill…!) I finally got Michael to catch a fish.
Not just one…but two…both crappie and one of them a nice size crappie
(Actually I pretended it was to make him feel good).
Why
did I let him catch those two fish instead of me catching them? Well, that’s like asking Mother Teresa why
she did all the nice things she did for other people…it’s just part of our nature. In our golfing group I am known as “The
Giver”. Of course I’m also known as
“Hit and Hunt”…but that’s not really important for this posting.
But…once
I finally got him a couple of fish…it was time to catch me one. Tapping into the years and years of
experience honed during thousands of hours of tournament fishing, personal fishing
trips, thousands of hours watching fishing shows on TV, hundreds of hours
researching and reading magazines and books and mostly by applying the
incredible mental toughness gained from being a great athlete, I managed to
catch…….a 14” bass…!
Michael
says it was less than 12”…but this comes from a guy that likes to fly
fish! What? Are you kidding me? Seriously?
Fly fish? Is that really
considered “fishing”?
Nope…you
didn’t read that wrong…he not only likes to fly fish…he actually PREFERS to fly fish over any other
fishing method. (Is fly fishing actually a “method”?) No…even the “Hemingway of Fishing Blogs”
couldn’t make something like that up.
Fly fishing? Really? As they say, “The truth is stranger than
fiction”.
Indeed
it is…! ”? (PS: Apologies to my friend and Blog member
Jim H.!)
Anyway
back to real fishing…using real fishing equipment…I don’t know who was happier
when I landed that fish…me or him. (Or
is it “him or I”?) I needed it for the
“Streak” and he needed it for his article.
Either way we were both happy. I
seem to clearly remember him saying “You’re amazing!”…over and over and
over again. I’m pretty sure that’s what
he said. Okay…maybe that isn’t EXACTLY what he said…but, this is my
Blog and his article is already published…so it’s how I remember it.
Once
that fish was caught Michael’s real professionalism kicked in. He took over telling me how to hold the fish
while considering angles, light, etc.
Then he decided to take the picture of me in the boat with the lure
splashing as it landed in the foreground.
He got on shore and had me go out 30-40 yards and cast a lure directly at
him while he crouched down with the camera held only inches from the water. (NOTE:
The video shows only some of this action but the actual picture he used in the
article was taken earlier while crouched down at the water’s edge while I made
perfect casts...cast after cast after cast…to the target.)
Did
I mention “cast after cast” and “perfect”?
(Stop) He asked me if I could cast the lure and have it land
close to his camera lens. Really? Land it a foot or so from his camera by
casting into a 30-mile per hour wind using a baitcasting reel…without backlashing
it…! Did he actually say, “Could
I…”? Really?
(Rewind) For the record. I am the only person in history to have the
Worlds of Fun theme park in Kansas City banned (no that is not a misprint…BANNED) from participating in one of
their games. When our kids were young we
visited the theme park and at the time there was a casting game where you stood
2-3 stories high on a “boat” platform and cast a practice plug into floating
rings of various sizes ranging from a hula hoop size down to dinner plate
size. Each size represented prizes
ranging from trinkets to large full size teddy bears. Keep in mind the equipment wasn’t exactly
top of the line and the reel was a closed faced (push button) spinning
reel…! But…at least it qualified as
actual “fishing equipment”…it wasn’t a fly rod!
Well…two
casts later I had won a full sized teddy bear for each of our two girls. BAM! Then people behind me asked me to cast
for them. 8-10 teddy bears later
management came and asked me to stop and forbid me from doing it ever
again. I think everything was okay
until I turned around and cast the plug BACKWARDS
over my head landing it in the smallest ring winning yet another teddy bear for
someone. That little move didn’t seem to settle very
well with management.!
(Fast forward) Now Michael wants to know (not “WOULD I”) but “COULD
I” cast a lure and make it splash within inches of his camera…while
asking me to be careful not to hit him since it was a real lure with real
hooks. “Could I”? ”Don’t hit him”…! REALLY…?
So…that’s
how that really cool picture was taken for the article showing me in the
background and the splash from the lure in the foreground. But in truth I had the easy part. Thankfully, I was using real fishing
equipment not some fly rod. Piece of
cake!
Note
to self…I wonder (since I am saying so many nice things about him in this Blog
posting) if Michael would give me that picture?
Maybe even sign it and frame it for me? I
wonder?
In
truth this was a GREAT experience to
see how a real pro goes about their job…and trust me Michael is a REAL pro. There is a LOT more involved in putting together his Sunday articles and Blog
than the rest of us understand. What he
went through in that incredibly cold windy day to get his pictures and do the
article showed me a lot of dedication, commitment and professionalism. It would have been easy to quit given the
terrible conditions…postpone it for another day…or just quit once I caught that
fish. But he didn’t. In fact, we stayed for other 45-minutes while
he got exactly the pictures he wanted and needed.
A real pro in action.
I know he must feel the same way about
me too. Not just because I caught a fish in
impossible conditions, (and let him catch two fish first!) but he asked if
someone should ever cancel at the last minute could he call me as an emergency
last minute fill-in. He said people
cancel all the time and he needs a “go to” professional kind of guy he can
count on in the last minute if necessary.
Naturally, being the “Giver” that I am, I said, “Yes”.
Funny thing though. Like
all the other members I have fished with he has not called me yet either. Humm.
But, he will because he knows down deep that I really am “The
Greatest Unknown Fisherman in My Own Mind of all Time”…!
There
is no “What We Learned Today” video because the best thing to know is
NOT to go fishing in such terrible
conditions. Unless of course, like in
Michael’s case, it’s an opportunity to fish with the “Hemingway of Fishing
Blogs”.
The
following video is an assortment of video shots taken by me during our
trip. Actually, almost all of the video
was shot accidently because I didn’t realize I had left the camera turned
on. DUH…! In fact, except for a couple of minutes
showing the fish and the last closing minute of the video…EVERYTHING in between was captured accidently…! Note the incredibly strong winds that just
happen to be blowing directly into and across the launching ramp. Thanks “Mr. Murphy”. But…for the record…I put that boat on the
trailer first try…BAM…take that!
What
a day…! Cold, windy and miserable but we
caught 3-fish in less than 90-minutes…!
That speaks to the quality of fishing on this lake (one of my favorite
lakes!) and a “never give up” attitude regardless of conditions. So when faced with adverse conditions…make
the most of it. That’s what Michael and
I did and it resulted in a great article.
Thanks Michael for a great day…!
NOTE: I accidently left the camera running for more than 20-minutes without
knowing it…and most of the video and audio was Michael praising me over and
over and over again about my fishing abilities.
Honestly, it got kind of embarrassing for a guy as humble as me.
Unfortunately
you will have to take my word for it. I
would gladly post that part of the video so you can see it for yourself but unfortunately
it seems that exact portion of the video was accidently
deleted…permanently…! What a
coincidence…it just happened to be the only segment deleted from the entire
video. Imagine that. What bad luck to have that happen. I’m certain it was that “Mr. Murphy” at work
again…! JJJ
Fly fishing? Really?
What a great sense of humor!
I
wonder if he is ever going to call?
Until next time go fishing…catch a
lot…keep some to eat…release the rest.
Clay
Dixon
Email: clay@KansasFisherman.com
Website/Blog:
http://www.KansasFisherman.com
