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Heromaker — Part II

Part 2 of a 3-part story
Photo: PD + cc2.0 / modified.

The extra weight proved problematic, after trying to shoot the line somewhat unsuccessfully, George automatically tried to backcast. In his rush, he snagged the line in the fir, bending the aspen rod like a bow. Just as this was registering, the line released and shot forward, the jewelry flashing like a shooting star in the gloom.

George could no longer see the fish, but he pulled in rote, knowing this would be his last cast for the night. Bump. Bump. The wily bruiser was at it again. Perhaps he was blind with age? Bump. The lure was almost at the end of its arc and George could no longer see where the line met the water when suddenly the water erupted. Like a train coming out of a tunnel, the fish hit so hard he pulled the entire line into the air.

George gave a mighty heave to set the hook and tried to use his right hand on the line to slow it down while simultaneously palming the reel with his left. Suddenly he realized that his system had so many weak links that he didn’t know how to play the fish. Maximus began zooming around the pool in great ellipses, George playing and taking line as best he could. The force of the fish was amazing.

Like his dad, he began a constant dialog with the beast. “Oh, Max, dad was right, you are going to be the world record, don’t make this hard.”

Oblivious, the fish raged around the pool. Within fifteen minutes the mountain light was completely gone.

“Easy boy, you stay out of that snag. That’s right, come to papa.” George reeled furiously.

Ocean pike?

Pike continue to expand their range in Alaska, wreaking havoc on salmon populations
Photo: Arek Kubale.

Northern pike are native to Alaska. Just not all of Alaska. Thanks to Ice Age geology, the southern third of the state was spared from the toothy, salmon- and trout-eating predator. It was believed, until very recently, that the only pike found in south-central Alaska are there thanks to illegal stocking, likely initiated by anglers in the 1950s who liked the prehistoric fish so much, they planted them in rivers and lakes from Anchorage south to the Kenai Peninsula.

Lost & found: A story of survival

One lost dog's amazing story of survival
Bill Madsen and Mazie, reunited after 21 days (photo: Troy Galow).

Troy Galow hadn’t planned to hunt that January day a few years back. But a friend of a friend was looking to shoot a “cull buck”—a nice but non-trophy animal, basically—and Galow, who makes his home in Liberty Hill, Texas, and has a deer lease on a ranch in the South Texas brush country, was happy to do what he could to give the guy his chance.

After dropping him off at one of the two Atascosa-style box blinds he maintains on the property, Galow parked his truck a little distance away and walked back. The guy was standing at the foot of the ladder, looking up.

Heromaker — Part I

Part 1 of a 3-part story
Photo: Uncredited / public domain.

George was in one of those moods that might only come upon a grown man once in a lifetime, or not at all. Sure, some men lived their whole lives ruled by such moments, but those men weren’t successful, didn’t hold respectable jobs, or provide for a family.

Summer reading: Hemingwhy?

In praise of Negley Farson
Negley Farson's Going Fishing.

It’s that time of year again (summertime, holidays, excitement!) when I can hardly contain my inner grouch. Everything is a Buster ... bonk-, bunny-, block- and so on. Book lists proliferate, making it clear that a lot of people only read on a beach (or at Christmas).

I think beaches are for avoiding and Christmas is for grumbling. Reading, on the other hand, is one of life’s great pleasures and needs no encouragement. Just do it.

This summer my off-the-beach bugbear is Hemingway and can be summed up in a single word: Why?

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