The Cabin: Day 5

Hi Folks!

I've been busy baling hay, harvesting crops, and getting the fermentation just right for this year's batch of Nauga Beaujolais. After doing all that, plus dealing with a slight miscalculation on the biomass conversion that produces the gas for the farm, I finally have a chance to get back to telling you about the goings on up at granddad's cabin. The last time I had just finished up talking about day four and how we pulled fish out left and right due to them all being concentrated at that point in the river after the big storm a couple of days earlier. Well that just weren't no good to settle which of us was the better fisherman so we figured we'd set ourselves a little bit more of a challenge the next day.

Seeing as this was my last day at the cabin... couldn't very well leave the farm and such for too long... Thelma Lou dopes a real good job of taking care of things but don't want to impose too much... it was important to make sure that granddad and I got ourselves down to a spot that would be a test for both of us. We kinda talked about it over a breakfast of an egg and Nauga sausage casserole... well as much talkin as could be done between heapin mouthfuls of what must be the best breakfast food ever invented. Eggs, potatoes, some onions and some other veggies from the garden, and of course Nauga sausage. What with the combination of granddad's secret mix of herbs and spices I would defy anyone to turn their nose up at that meal. So you can imagine that it took a while for us to finally get around to deciding where to go. Granddad finally convinced me he knew just the spot... a little fishin hole just off a feeder stream to the Big River.

Well, after throwing the plates and pans into the sink we hitched up our waders and gathered our gear and moved on out to the gator... loaded that puppy right up and took on off to this spot granddad had decided on. Took a little longer to get there... it wasn't right on the beaten path if you know what I mean, but once we arrived I could see right away what made it special. There was this kind of peaceful quiet to the place... wide slow moving pool of cold crystal clear water by the edge which got deeper and darker the further out you looked. I could've just sat there and listened to the sound of the wind playing through the trees and calls of the local birds... heaven... just heaven is all I can say.

I had to shake myself out of it... after all granddad was already pickin his spot along the bank and time was awastin ifn I was gonna get any sort of advantage over that wily old man. I hustled on over to a goodly lookin spot and set up shop about twenty yards away from granddad. Didn't take too long before I was ready to try my luck... got my line in the water only a few minutes after granddad. Then we both just kinda settled in and waited... got into the rhythm of things... just us, the fishin, and the water. Like I said... peaceful. Nothin much happened for about a half hour or so... then my line was hit like a Snert by a freight train. Bammm that line started wheelin out of my reel so fast I thought I'd run out before whatever was on the other end decided to stop. Then just like that it all went real quiet like. The line went slack... the reel stopped whining... and the only sounds I heard were the sound of the water gurglin as it went on by and granddad yellin at me not to let it get away.

Well I started reeling in that line as fast as I could, pullin up with the rod to get some traction when the line started to get taut. It was a real battle I tell you... one for the ages... that thing fought and pulled and tried every trick it knew to try and beat me. Took me near on 45 minutes before I could even get it close enough to get a look at it. Granddad had put down his rod and come over to help net it when I got it near the bank so he was Johnnie on the spot when I finally got it there. Even then it might have got away. Just as I thought it was exhausted from the fight, it gave one last heave and jump that caught me by surprise. Didn't realize I'd let my guard down. Must've been a mite tired myself. That last effort almost pulled the rod right out of my hands. Yes sir, ifn it wasn't for granddad being right there with that net, that fish might've gotten clean away... and I would have lost my favorite rod. Once we got it to shore, we could see that it was a Strout... the biggest one I'd ever seen... thirty inches or so... not sure we ever measured it. We put it in a water filled bucket on the gator to keep it fresh and I just sorta collapsed on the grass by the water's edge.

Granddad just shook his head, couldn't rightly remember seeing a Strout that far north before, never mind one that big. He was right envious of my catch... although he didn't say so out loud... he just got this determined look in his eyes and pulled his cap down a little and turned back to go to his fishin spot. That's when it happened. I'd just gathered myself to watch granddad move back on over when we both saw 'em... plain as day... out there just floatin in the stream... two prime specimens of wild Nauga just mindin their own business ridin the current to someplace new. Don't know how long they'd been in that stream but once they hit the pool where we was at they just seemed to start going in little circles around the edge of that fishin hole as the current just kinda petered out on them.

Well I looked at granddad and he looked back at me... then we both got this kinda excited grin boys get when theyse just about to jump in a mud puddle. Don't know which of us managed to get out of our waders fastest... all I know is we was both of one mind on this... we was in that water as fast as a Goose Backed Grandjack on spilt grain. Course we was quiet about it... didn't want to spook 'em none. By some sort of silent agreement, granddad took the one on the left while I went for the other one. Once we was both in position, I waved my clenched fist to indicate the hammer... granddad just nodded that he agreed... no use mucking around with any other stuff in that environment. Granddad gave a silent countdown with his fingers and then we both went at 'em... t'weren't too hard... they was both just floatin there with their eyes closed... probably in some sort of Nauga dream... didn't even know we was there.

Well after that first bit we grabbed ahold of them ear pods and pulled ourselves aboard and then just held on for dear life as those Naugas just erupted under us. Them Naugas weren't the biggest I'd ever seen but they sure was close. Being wild and all they had a mite more play in them than your normal, run of the mill, domesticated Nauga. It was all I could do to stay on as that critter thrashed and spun in the water. Didn't have no time to pay attention to what granddad was doing. Finally after what seemed like an eternity... although it must've been no more than fifteen to twenty seconds or so... I found myself sailing through the air to land with a big splash flat on my back. Didn't waste no time in getting eyes on that Nauga... They tend to settle down real quick but with a wild one... well let's just say I wasn't gonna take no chances. I paddled my way over to the bank and turned to look at how granddad was doing.

Shoot. I couldn't believe my eyes. There he was sitting nice and easy on the back of that Nauga like he was born there. Every once in awhile he'd tug at one of the ear pods and the Nauga would kinda kick and turn in that direction. Ifn he tugged at both of them at the same time, that critter would swim straight ahead. I was just gobsmacked. Ifn my mouth was open any wider a Thin Ribbed Wren could've made a nest in it. Granddad just sat up there for a while... enjoying the view as he put it... before he finally slid off and, with a pat on that critter's side, sent it on its way.

Well that was the end of any fishin that day. We was both plumb soaked to the skin and at least I was tired from my ride. Course granddad didn't look like he'd even broke a sweat with his but even he figured it was better that we head on back to the cabin to get out of our wet clothes, dry off, and get that Strout all ready for lunch. We did just that with me trying real hard to get him to give me the secret of how he'd managed to handle that Nauga so easily. He'd just smile, tap his nose on one side, and say that it was all in the way you approached 'em. Maybe that's why he always seems to have plenty of breeding stock when he comes south. He sure does have a way with them critters, that's for sure. At least he was kind enough to admit that I'd just might have gotten the better of him in the fishin... not necessarily the better fisherman mind you... just happened to be a mite luckier that day.

Next morning, we loaded up our gear and headed back south. Still haven't gotten him to let me in on his Nauga handling secret. Maybe I can pry it out of him ifn I bring him down to my favorite fishin spot near Cotter's Creek...

Well that's it for now. 'Til next time. Jon