Flooded

This is a very true story from sometime mid summer last year that I didn't write about.

My friend Dalton and I decided to go to the Mansfield Dam Reservoir for bass and pike after there had been a fair bit of rain. When we pulled down the dirt road to the launch site we encountered a rather large problem. The lake was a bit bigger then normal: The road seventy yards from the launch site was under water. The roar from the water exiting the dam was audible half a mile away. It was frightening!

To make the situation worse, any fish were spread into the vast expanses of flooded woodland. However, there were vast expanses of flooded woodlands to explore on kayaks! Not an every day opportunity. We made quick time, doing some unproductive trolling as we crossed open water. Then we weaved in and out of the trees and snags observing the insects that had taken refuge on them. If you accidentally bumped one you were covered with ants and spiders. On one peninsula we could see small mammals occasionally dart about in the branches.

When we were absolutely sure the fishing was going to be a bust we started catching turtles. On every piece of floating debris were many of these reptiles, and occasionally a few snakes. We caught plenty of turtles, but the snakes ditched their rafts before we got very close at all.

It was a very fascinating afternoon on the water.