Spring Break – Fishing for Crappie

When we got out of school for Spring Break we were hearing a lot more about the Corona Virus.  It really didn’t seem real.  My parents thought it was not a good idea to go anywhere at this time with big crowds for Spring Break.  That was ok with me because I am happy with just a few of my close friends going either fishing or surfing.

I went to the beach and went surfing one day and caught a few waves at surfside and went fishing with my brother, Grant one day on Lake Conroe.  Trey and I also went fishing for crappie. 

I even went down to the neighborhood pond by myself like I used to when I was a younger.  That was one of my favorite places.  In fact, it was one of the best times of my life.   Things have changed and the people that owned Shiner moved away.  Shiner was the dog that would always greet me.  He walked with a limp but always by my side.  While I fished, I would pet Shiner in between the casts.  He would inspect my catches and acknowledge I was doing a great job just by looking up at me.  We were pals.  He loved seeing me and I loved him being by my side.  I caught fish there every week.  They were nice size.  One of my favorite memories is when I caught a beast.   It was in January of 2017 and I landed a 9.6 pound bass.  I released it back and my friends have gone there trying to catch that giant bass.  It was a smart fish because I have never heard of anyone catching a bass that big in that pond since that day.  

They extended our Spring Break for 2 days to figure out the plan with the Corona virus.  

Taylor and I also went crappie fishing but we only caught a few so we threw them back.  Trey, his dad and I also went crappie fishing.  We had so much fun.  We caught over 60 fish, but we threw them all back.  That was way too many to clean. 

I also got to fish with my friend Cade.  He is attending Texas State and when he comes home we usually go fishing together.   Lifelong friends are the best.  He used to go with me to catch the giant catfish that were too big to fit in my small john boat.  It was amazing. This time we went crappie fishing.  We used the famous crappie jigs that Mr. Goforth hand tied.  You are always guaranteed to catch crappie on those awesome jigs.  They work great.  We brought home five crappie.  We cleaned and fileted them.  Thank you, Mr. Goforth for those special crappie jigs.

Everything changed very fast.  Social distancing was put into effect.  All sporting events were cancelled, which included our college fishing tournaments for the year.  We were really looking forward to that.  We now do all our college classes online.  We have all had to adjust to doing that.  We really miss our friends in class and our teachers.   I am working ahead to stay on top of all my work.  My brother, Grant is working super hard studying a lot.  He is graduating from Texas A&M in May.  I hope he gets to have a graduation ceremony, we are waiting to see. 

Near the end of March, I moved everything out of my dorm.  The college had officially closed for the year so we will not be going back.  Stay Safe, Wash Your Hands and Social Distance !!!