Double up

 

Once upon a time; the way that every fairytale starts to let the reader know something magical is about to happen. In reality however, we never start a sentence like that as we think there is no true magic in the world. In my opinion, I think we have a warped idea of what magic is. It’s not the snap of fingers to make something appear out of nothing. No, it is a small moment in which the moon and stars seem to align and the average or mundane becomes extraordinary. It is recognizing these moments that can add magic to any situation.

Every now and then, such a small incident will cross paths with my fishing trips. From simple things like watching a coyote swim out in Lake Mead to go catch a coot. Or having a day where every cast gets a fish. To finding an area where striped bass are actively “boiling” on baitfish. As if the universe was just adding a little bit of spice, to ensure that that particular day would stand out just a bit more. These moments don’t always occur, or are sometimes missed easily.

The more time you spend out and about, the more likely you are to find these moments that make you say “Wow!”. The fish we have in the picture above is one such moment for me. The plan for this day was for the wife and I to do some bass fishing as I had recently had a good run. The thing is, a week or two can make a world of difference in fish behavior and we had less luck in finding fish than hoped for.

After a few hours, the wife managed to land this smallmouth bass. It was already a special catch as it was her first-ever smallie. After a slow day of not catching any fish, the universe decided to sprinkle some of that magic spice my way. Using the same rod and lure, I too caught the exact same fish about an hour later. The same markings and scars, probably had a bed in the area. Two people catching the same fish. This might not seem that special, but that’s the thing about magic, you either believe in it or you don’t.