Anglers reel in a rock

A couple of the local anglers have been running trot lines at the power plant lake at LaCygne. I was listening with interest as they told about catching blue gill for baitfish, stringing the lines, and seeing what treasures show up on the end of the hooks. For two days straight they ran the lines in the rain.

On the first day, as they were picking up the line, they suddenly realized they had something large on one hood, and it was moving around as they lifted the line. Grabbing the net, they peered over the side only to find that one of their newly sharpened hooks had snagged a rock which was apparently swimming back and forth, imitating a fish as they lifted it out of the water. Hearing this story, I suggested that maybe instead of catching bluegill for bait they might want to use pebbles and see if the large rocks would be attracted to them.

Day two ended with few fish. On top of that, as they pulled the boat to shore, the propeller hit bottom and destroyed the motor's lower unit, causing them to have to borrow another boat for the final day.

As they prepared for the third day, they were speculating as to how many fish they would have at the end of their trip. It also appeared that there was a weary resignation among them that they had all the bad luck they could handle for a week, and they were going to pull the lines and give themselves and the fish a rest.