DISARRAY

There's only one word to describe my tackle bags after a year or two of hardcore fishing...disarray.  Everything gets hastily thrown back into my fishing bags as we move from spot to spot or get ready to pack up for the trip home.  Over time they get to be a mess and they need a dire straight makeover.

So a couple weeks ago one Saturday afternoon I dumped my crappie bag out on my dining room table.  That was the Saturday all heck broke loose with the Kansas weather so I was stuck glued to the television anyway.  Getting my tackle bag in order was the only good that came from that day of severe weather.

As my kids and wife came into the room for the first time they had to take a step back.  It looked like someone had robbed a bait store and dumped all the loot on the table.  It was quite the mess and pile of stuff.  I knew I'd be busy for at least an hour or so getting it organized and into a new bag with fully functional zippers (I'd used zip ties as handles on the other zippers when the finger-pulls broke). 

Some of my fishing buddies and I give each other a hard time about the weight of our tackle bags so I was intent to reduce inventory.  I've got one buddy who used to buy jigs every time he was at Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops and Wal Mart for that matter.  A guy could get a hernia lifting his bag, but three mules could do it on a good day.  I took out a bunch of jigs in various sizes I either no longer used or had several dozen.  I put them in a Zip Lock bag, weighed them and sent him a text message asking for forgiveness but crowing that my crappie gear was now 2 1/2 pounds lighter!  It was a start.  

It wasn't long and I had nice, new boxes crammed full of all the goodies any good crappie angler should have on hand.  It didn't matter what color they were biting on chances are I'd have at least one extra, or three bags more for that matter. 

But it got organized and that's always a good thing.  I can actually find things.  But don't worry, it won't last too long and one day about a year from now I'll be back at it on my dining room table.     

NICE DAY FOR A 9-YEAR-OLD

It's always fun to experience good times in the great outdoors no matter the age of the participant.  However, it might be even more special to a youngster, or anyone for that matter, to enjoy a successful adventure outdoors for the very first time.  Such was the case for a buddy of mine's young son on a father and son outing made for the memory books.

Garrett Athon, 9, and his Dad, Craig, hit the turkey woods early with high hopes of bagging Garrett's first turkey.  He was excited, albeit admittedly a little sleepy, at the prospect as they crawled into their "tent" as Garrett described their pop-up blind.  Birds gobbled and both father and son were optimistic. 

As it got light a jake came into near-shotgun range but wouldn't hold still long enough for Garrett to get a clean shot.  They patiently waited and another came streaking past and towards the decoys offering a nice shot for a beginning turkey hunter.  Garrett described what happened after the shot..."That thing was flopping all over the place!" 

With his first turkey under his belt and still plenty of a beautiful day left they loaded up into Craig's Ranger boat and headed to the reservoir.  Craig had done well with a few limits of walleye in recent weeks and hoped to get into some more good fishing. 

It wasn't long and Garrett's rod bent double and initially his Dad thought he was snagged.  But when the drag started screaming it was apparent there was a big fish digging for the deep.  After a 20 minute battle Garrett finally had a giant flathead flopping beside the boat when Craig scooped it up with the net.  Garrett left little doubt as to it's size and his Dad said anglers, campers and even people on the highway could likely hear the audibly loud, animated description of what he'd just caught.  Rightfully so, as the big flathead later tipped the scales at 27 pounds.  

Both father and son will remember that day forever.  And there's a good chance many more memories just like it will be made in the future. 

OUTDOOR PLAN B

Last weekend was the final one for the special youth turkey hunting season.  A KDWPT-sponsored youth turkey hunt in Hutchinson had me excited to guide a youngster from Big Brothers/Big Sisters Friday and Saturday.  Three of our eight youth hunters were successful in Hutchinson and my young hunter had a close encounter and a miss on three toms called to marginal range on Friday evening.  Regardless, he was enthused and I hoped a seed had been planted to grow his hunting interest in the future.

My boys turn would come Easter Sunday.  It was a beautiful morning and the birds were gobbling on the edge of the property where we had permission.  Unfortunately, ol' Dad hadn't followed the weather close enough and the boys weren't dressed properly for the 32 degree temperature at sunrise.  Realizing we didn't have many options in the blind anyway we went back to the truck to warm up and lay a game plan. 

We checked the area where we'd heard the gobbles and set up.  We could get a couple birds to gobble occasionally but it appeared they were content to hang out with their female counterparts.  Cody kept dozing off and Brandon was losing interest so we set out on foot.  Another couple stops failed to produce any response.  As we headed back to the truck the boys happened upon a few morel mushrooms and the hunt was back on. 

 I had to laugh as I pictured churches, parks and lawns all over Kansas having their Easter egg hunts that same morning.  My boys were having their own courtesy of Mother Nature.  Many of the mushrooms were a bit too far gone but they loaded them up in our Easter "basket" (a mesh sack) anyway.  In less than an hour they'd gathered plenty and it was time to head back home for Easter plans with family. 

The turkeys didn't cooperate but in the end that's okay.  Both boys will remember the first Easter they spent as a newly-turned teenager gathering a different egg of sorts.  It's always good when a plan comes together.  But in this case it's always good when Plan B comes together in case the original one is all henned-up and doesn't want to play.