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It's a beautiful day, you're on the boat with one of your best friends soaking up the raise and chasing monster hawgs. The only thing getting in the way of this being a perfect day is the spinning reel of your friend's that keeps fouling. I'll gloss over the fact that I'm the one who spooled his line for him and put on too much. The point is, his line kept getting tangled, and it was giving me a guilt trip while keeping us off the fish.
The bite is a little slow, but the fish that you're bringing to the boat are well over the 3lb mark. You friend has brought in a couple as well, but they're certainly not bragging size. And you've figured out the pattern - long casts, jig, and a small trailer. Planting your lure in tight corners where points meet the shoreline and bouncing it back to the boat is going to drum up some nice sized fish. Your partner, not wanting to believe that the most effective lure he's ever seen is hesitant to make a change. You continue with your pattern trolling down the lakeshore.
There it is, right in front of you - the perfect spot for the perfect presentation. In front of your a long narrow point extends from the shoreline. Where the point meets the lakeside a tree overhangs on the water, beckoning bass to hide within its shadows. You can almost feel the fish on the end of your line as your dead-on accurate cast drops beneath draped tree branches and leaves. Pop, pop...you give your jig a couple of snaps...
PHHHHHHT! Argh! His line fouled again. Being the good guy I am, and possibly feeling a little guilt, I ask him to hold my rod while I fix his. I don't bring my lure in, I don't wind the line, I just hand him my already cast rig - the very one that was tossed to the honey-hole. I gave up the perfect cast.
Bass Pro Shops® Bionic Blade™ XPS™ Trigger Rod was bending over like it had never bent before. It had been a few months since it had come in contact with a fish this size. It's a good rod, but I could see this battle might be lost.
When I took a closer look at what my fishing friend was doing, I couldn't help but notice he was holding the rod upside down. Now, I understand that he's not used to a reel being on top of a rod because he doesn't fish with baitcasters. Regardless, the handle on his spinning rod is on the right side - the same as my baitcaster. This could be 'local moron' worthy, as he spun haphazardly backward with the reel upside down in his hands. I couldn't help but yell at him, "you have the reel upside down!"
He soon righted the rod and reel, and was able to get the fish to the boat - a clumsy fight that went on much too long. None the less, he was the victor, and the scale showed his opponent to be a worthy 4.5 pounds of fish. Ah, but who's fish is it anyway?
This is where an impartial audience, meaning you the reader, needs to decide. My friend would have you think that he caught the fish with his own doing, but on my rod and reel. I maintain that I cast the lure (a lure he wasn't even thinking of switching to) with a baitcaster that he wouldn't be able to cast if he wanted to. He, therefore, should not be getting credit for the fish. After all, if I hand a rod to my son so he can fight a big fish to the boat, did he in fact catch the fish, or did he simply reel in dad's fish?
I find it sad that he would want to take credit for catching this bass. Some say he shouldn't get any at all, while others say it was his catch - I was the fool for giving him my rod. Fishwrench Dot Commers - Fishwrench needs you! Place your vote below and tell us "Whose Fish Is It Anyway?"
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