You Just Never Know

  The truth in the statement "hindsight is twenty-twenty" surely is 2nd to none. From talking about your investment history to telling a story about the one that got a away,  it's always easy to come up with the way you should have done it by looking back.  Throw in a mind that is very competitive by nature with himself and you'll  have the best Monday morning quarterback in the world. Who... me?

  So this past Friday I'm leaving the dock heading for some catchable Mille Lacs walleyes. I have 3 clients in the boat that are making their maiden voyage with me. I searched the hard-drive under my Mercury hat, trying to make sure I chose the right catching spot first. I re-lived countless Mille Lacs trips from the past 40-50 years during the week of the fourth, with flat calm seas. And at DSL speed, the answer came up fast with a good confident feel to it. I twisted the throttle hard and got my fishing platform charging  toward the no fail spot. Sure, you betcha!

  While having the last conversation with one of my dearest friends last year before he passed away, as usual, hindsight came into play. The former veteran Viking linebacker and I looked back to the days when we were team-mates in national walleye tournaments. Almost 20 years had passed since I knocked a $12,000 walleye off with the net for him while in a Michigan walleye tourney. We talked about the winning fish too from over the years, no doubt. But THAT fish was always re-played whenever we talked. Always! We had beaten ourselves and that never did fly with him and still won't with me. If only I had.......

  As I throttled down this past Friday morning after running 6 miles, the 16 year-old graph I use showed so many fish I contemplated how busy I was about to be unhooking fish and keeping the boat control in place. Did I bring enough bait along I worried. I sweated the game plan question that asked "do I start with two worm rigs and one minnow rig or two minnow rigs and one worm rig?"  I couldn't believe how lucky we were to have calm water that would allow perfect boat control over all those walleyes. The minnows I hooked on swam perfectly behind the spinners. Life was good.  No looking back today I figured. 

  Fast forward about 5 hours into this story. The graph still showed countless Mille Lacs walleyes. And the livewell wasn't running. Most of the bait was still left-over. I really WAS sweating the game plan now. I had cooked worms, minnows and leeches in every form and fashion possible on the walleye's menu and had no takers. I had traveled to, and found big schools of fish at all the spots the hard-drive search could spit out. I had an hour left in the scheduled 6 hour trip. Like a broken record, the clients heard me say " I can't believe this" time after time. So to console me, or just shut me up, the grandpa says "you just never know." But that theory doesn't fly with me when it  comes to fishing. I'm suppose to ALWAYS know. With zero fish in the boat, after 5 hours, I had time to make one last move. I had used up the play book set up before the game. The Hail Mary was the only move left. I pulled up to a spot that we had passed over 5 hours earlier at 30 miles per hour, just 3 minutes fom the dock. It still stings to tell the rest of the story. I quickly developed a stiff neck while looking back at the previous 5 hours. 

  I was swearing under my breath at the weather-beaten hard-drive under my hat while we cruised back to the dock, an hour later with walleye slime all over the boat. The grandpa sensed what I was thinking and feeling. So he just had to say it again, "you just never know." The walleye egg on my face was cooked over hard. Why didn't I stop THERE on the way out!

  I hate those words.  Next time we talk, Wally will remind me.
For guiding info with Steve, call 651-270-3383