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under the whale

700 views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  Mickey 
#1 ·
well a most beautiful fishing trip, let me describe it to you before it fades...

the evening was beautiful! with a pastel sunset.. deep azure meeting a dark pumpkin orange with a few later rays of cranberry red. today was a new place; as my old familiar tromping ground skunked me three times in a row; very promising structure; a deep hole on the outside bend of a river.. with a skinny ill used path to a small beach. on my left an old pier for a giant conveyer that moved gravel from the middle island of the river to huge piles, or rock and rubble. the rubble piles still remain but the conveyer belt has been taken out and now the pilings and a few scattered machinery on the other side of the river remain, looking a lot like a sad graveyard.

The first impression of this spot is very favorable. the small beach is roomier than it seemed when I briefly found it scouting around... and there is a pod of small suckers upstream a little ways near a shallow cove. the beach itself shows a shelf of broken rock with crawdads scurrying about.

I get settled in, latern behind me and liver and cutbait waiting out in the mild current. my night starts sleepy like they have been for a while.. and a look up in the night sky. With the rods at my fingertips a take some time to explore the showy sky. perhaps a lot of time.

what I notice first is Jupiter, the king of the planets and the king of the stars brilliantly shining in the South. it sits above that showy famous teapot, the constellation sagitarius. our own incredible galaxy, the milky way is splayed across the whole sky, a band of dusky light going from the far south immediately overhead to the north...

when you eyes are adjusted a little and you are far away from bright cities and strait lights. our galaxy, the milky way begins to look very beautiful even with the unaided eye. rather than a dusky barely seen glow, like it is in the cities. it is a glowing marshy river that gather here and flow up and down in subtle channels and thins out imperceptably to the darker sky.

these subtle features are actually due to enormous clouds of dust that stand between us, (about 1/3 from the edge) and the compressed core of our galaxy. I trace bright spots, actually huge windows or clear spots in the enormous dust clouds... and as I do a blazing falling star..

I'm having fun , but not catching fish and the stars are wheeling overhead. the stars circle about one star in the north and looking south the stars move faster. slow enough you never see any movement, fast enough that the constellations showly slide between each of my reveries... I'm also looking at bats, ducks, shore features (hey maybe a find another shore access), splashing fish, and beavers (as long as they don't swing that darn tail at me)...

the constellations of the summer are all rather pictorial, saggitarius looks like a teacup; acquilla like a crossbow, delphinius the small flag, cygnus the cross, sagitta the little arrow.
but hopefully I'm in for better lucks as the coming constellations are more acquatic; capricornius the sea goat (although it looks like a giant arc), acquarius the water pitcher; and cetus the whale.

apparently this is luck because I keep a little tap on the liver and bring it in with no bait. well, stolen bait is a start. more waiting, an espacially good falling star, a hot blaze of light. funny I think all the things I really like are dirty; fishing is dirty, hiking is dirty; and here astronomy.. the beautiful dust in the milky way and even shooting stars... dirt, from the formation of the solar system.

a bigger jerk now on the liver, I'm on edge. Cetus is Rising IS it luck?? YES! a nice exciting fight. again light in the beginning then the fish panicks as it brought in and I am guessing its bigger than it is, by the time I get it caught. 20" 12" girth. maybe 4#. cool.

time is shrinking. a few more throws. one more stolen bite and lastly a tempting good tug; like that spot was giving me a goodnight kiss and hoping she will be my new favorite.

probably will.

at any rate, what a beautiful fishing trip. the galaxy, shooting stars, a nice fish with a few extra rugs, a break from recent skunked trips.
 
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