Jack jumping

Watch our for the jack

I was on the nose of the 14-foot johnboat that cool September evening. Ray was on the back, running the 4 HP Mercury, and Richie sat in the middle.

We were just beginning to check catfish lines we’d set earlier in Mr. Larry Kirven’s black water swamp. Ray pulled us up to the first bush line and backed off the engine, putting Richie right where he needed to be in order to check it.

It was just on the verge of dark, so I flipped on the handheld spotlight to help Richie see. Nothing was on that line, and the bait was still there, so he dropped it back into the water.

I flipped the light off, then heard a slight noise in the back of the boat. The noise was much louder for Ray, and after just a slight clamor, Ray had left the rear of the boat and was crouched down between Richie and me. I don’t believe he even made contact with Richie on his way forward.

I couldn’t understand what Ray was saying, since it was drowned out by the outboard, which Ray had left running. With the three of us so close to the bow, the outboard’s prop wasn’t even in the water, except when the wind and current would hit us just right. Then the little outboard would surge us forward a bit before the front of the boat pushed down again, threatening to dunk us all.

Finally, I understood Ray’s cries.

“Snake! In the boat! Back there!” Ray looked toward the rear of the boat.

“Well it’s probably just a water snake,” I said as confidently as Ray had been operating the outboard just seconds earlier.

Richie didn’t flinch, but took the spotlight from me and shined it to the back. Something glistened in the light.

“It’s just a jackfish,” Richie said, then flipped the light off and handed it back to me.

“Y’all put it there. Trying to scare me!” Ray said. We hadn’t.

GUH-DUNK! GUH-DUNK! More noise emanated from the back of the boat. I flipped the light back on, shined it back at the jackfish, which was now three jackfish.

GUH-DUNK! Make it four.

“You’ve never heard Mr. Larry talk about jack jumping?” Richie asked. “They jump at the light.”

Sure enough, when we’d turn the light on or off, a jackfish or three would jump. Some would land in the boat, some would hit the outside of it.

Ray finally calmed down and manned the outboard again. We caught a few catfish on our bush lines, and saw our share of snakes. But jack jumping, that was the highlight of that September night.