In just a little while, the sun would be blazing hotly on his face and the prevailing southern winds would be blowing across the lake top making the small row upon row of whitecaps he knows so well. The two high and two low tides would insure a lot of movement today. The plankton would move, the small fish would follow the plankton and he hoped, the big fish would follow the small fish. But that would be later because right now, the sun was a faint pink glow in the East and there was no discernible movement of the warm humid air. The night creatures songs were slowly dying down and only a few crickets and frogs continued
in the distance as they joined the plaintive calls of the first gull awaking over the lake. It was a time he always enjoyed even if he had to remind himself there were things that could provide a not so nice surprise if he failed to see them first as he moved his feet through the knee high grass.

This is how a man is supposed to live, he thought. To be outside getting his own food, living with or overcoming the elements, or at least attempting to take what nature provided. It was his own abilities against the natural native cunning of creatures, great and small. Of course, there was the grocery store if things didn’t work out in his favor but that was only a fleeting thought right now. His ears had picked up the sounds of splashes on the water and it refocused his attention on the task at hand. His mind was hoping the splashes were speckled trout feeding on top water bugs. He was prepared for that and a lot of other possible fish that might come to his rod and reel that day.

Yes, it was a promising day for fishing in July.

The one possible thing to complicate the moment was the new guy he had brought with him. The guy was a rookie who had never fished salt water and the night before he had talked about his inexperience. The rookie had already started to learn about new things though. At breakfast, after only about 4 hours of sleep, the rookie had been introduced to new breakfast food. The rookie had never had fried eggs with fried potatoes, refried beans, bacon and fresh hot tortillas washed down with hot coffee and orange juice. He asked if I was sure the food combination was going to be ok. I tried not to laugh as I encouraged him to be brave and try something new. Just trust the lady of the house, who never believed in letting HER guys leave hungry even if it meant her getting up and cooking while the guys were still sleeping. Many times after that first breakfast, the rookie would tell one and all about that first great breakfast that first morning. Even more interested was the lady of the rookies house, who also ran a diner for a living. She hadn’t heard him
brag about her food that way. But that is another story.

At least the rookie was familiar with the outdoors since he was a hunter. Like me, he carried a large knife in the scabbard on his belt and he knew how to use it. He had caught some fresh water fish once but not very many. I assured him that I would “teach” him to clean fish if we had a lot of success. The rookie was also big and strong so I “taught” him how to carry most of the equipment from the car trunk to the lake shore. Rookies can be very useful while they are learning new things. The other thing I liked most about him was his wonderful economy of words. He never used ten words when two would do the job. The dearth
of words made him seem cryptic at times but it was a characteristic I could appreciate in a fishing or hunting partner. Sometimes a simple nod of the head was preferred over a loud and wordy exclamation. Especially if it drew the attention of slob anglers who would then crowd around a spot producing fish. I was also glad the rookie didn’t jump at every unknown or unexpected sound. It wasn’t really in my nature to learn the
different meanings of a mans screams in the dark. My usual and main response was to vacate the immediate area when I heard the screaming begin. It just seemed logical to me to respond that way.