Glorious April

Smallmouth, turkeys and saltwater fish

One of my best days outdoors took place in April years ago.

At daybreak, I dropped a big gobbler to the ground. I started the evening before when I watched three gobblers heading to the roost.

That morning, I simply set up in the path I hoped at least one of those gobblers would take. Lady Luck smiled on me, and minutes after legal shooting light, I pulled the trigger with success.

Once I’d cleaned the bird, I headed to the Broad River where I caught and released a 21-inch smallmouth bass while fishing with Mike McSwain of Broad River Smallmouth (843-763-3805).

I always enjoy fishing with McSwain, and he knows that river like the back of his hand. I was glad to catch such a fish while in his canoe with him. And to make the catch even more memorable, I caught it on a topwater lure, one of the most exciting ways to catch any fish.

We caught and released many more smallmouth that day, and we left them biting because it was time for me to head to South Carolina’s Lowcountry for a fishing trip the next morning with a group of friends I grew up with.

More adventure

We’ve fished down there together for years, and I was happy to arrive in time to meet up with them and throw the cast net a handful of times for baitfish before it got too late. A couple of the guys got there early enough to catch a few redfish and sheepshead, which they turned into filets that we decided to fry that evening.

It had been a long day, and I was pretty well tuckered out. But thinking back about the events of the day, I couldn’t help but be filled with a deep sense of appreciation and gratitude for those experiences.

As the sun set to the tune of redfish and sheepshead filets sizzling in the fryer, one of my friends asked me why I hadn’t arrived earlier when there was still time to fish.

“I had a gobbler to kill this morning, and then I headed to the river and caught my personal best smallmouth bass on a topwater lure,” I said.

That was met with a mixture of congratulations and some good-natured ribbing about not taking any of them along.

It was pretty near the perfect day. A successful solo hunt, smallmouth fishing with a good friend, then sharing a meal of fresh seafood with more friends, with more adventure planned for the next morning.

Can you tell I’m glad April is here?