So I Went Fishing This Morning and Threw My Rod in the Lake......

"Are you kidding me?"  Those were the words of my good friend and fishing buddy Kim this morning as my 7' medium bait casting rod went tumbling over his left shoulder and fell into Mica Bay on lake Coeur d'Alene.  Thanks to his quick thinking, he threw a marker overboard immediately, we were able to retrieve my rod and reel.  I was very lucky, because while it isn't a deep bay, it may have only been 6 feet of water, the milfoil was thick and could have quickly swallowed up my favorite fishing pole.   I owe a big thanks to Kim for his quick thinking in throwing out a marker so we wouldn't lose site of my pole.

The day started innocently enough, we arrived at the Mica Bay launch (pictured on the left) by about 9AM and the wind was calm, no rain and the surface temp was about 58 degrees.  With confidence brimming, we quickly rigged up and quietly motored over to our first spot.  About 20 minutes later Kim caught a nice pike, or what we are now thinking is a muskie, (pictured below on the right) and we were both very excited and anxious for a busy morning of catching some fish.  Unfortunately as quickly as the bite turned on, it may have turned off faster.

Next came the rain, we fished through an hour or so of a downpour with no end in sight.  During this time, I realized my travel mug didn't keep my coffee as warm as I had hoped.  As a result, my fingers were very cold and wet.  I didn't realize how cold I was until I was struggling to change lures as I quickly searched for any bait that would coax a bite out of these elusive fish.

I was casting with the wind and decided to really whip pole to try and cast as far as possible.  Note to self, this is a really bad idea.  My first couple of casts were really covering some water and I was getting some good distance.  Unfortunately, my next cast didn't work as well.  I reared back and then panick set in as I realized I didn't have a hold of my rod.  It unfolded before me in slow motion as I watched my rod flip up over Kim's left shoulder and splash into the icy cold lake.  That is when Kim calmly looked back to me and said, "Are you kidding me?"

It wasn't long after this that we decided to pack it in.  Kim generously gave us his fish and my girls couldn't be more excited.  Below is a picture of them getting front row seats as I prepare to clean the pike, er possibly muskie.  Needless to say the smiles on their faces made this trip worth it.

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