Mid-summer musings …

  • Why is it that you catch fish on a new lure, get excited, and buy a bunch of them, only to find out that it was a one-trip wonder?
  • Why is it that no one talks about lures such as electric-blue plastic worms or gadgets such as the Color-C-Lector, once the rage in fishing, anymore?
  • Why is it that lure companies have such short-term memory? Those revolutionary baits they introduced last summer are quickly forgotten when the new models are unveiled.
  • Why is it that those crappie or bass that were just a fraction short of being a keeper never seem to grow to the desired size the next year?
  • Why is it that the fishing can change so quickly – from boom to bust – in only one day without any discernible change in conditions?
  • Why is it that an artificial bait can often outfish the real thing, a nightcrawler or a minnow?
  • Why is it that a fish at the end of your line always looks so much bigger in the water than in the boat?
  • Why is it that photos seldom do justice to the big bluegills you catch?
  • Why is it that two fishermen can fish side by side with nearly identical equipment and one will catch all the fish?
  • Why is it that a catfish will bite strange baits such as hot dogs or soap?
  • Why is it that bass fishermen who constantly boast of having great practice rounds seldom finish high in tournaments?
  • Why is it that some pros can talk of a 5-pounder getting away at the boat and know exactly how much that fish weighed?
  • Why is it that some experts say that luck plays no part in fishing? The record books are full of lucky fishermen.
  • Why is it that a fisheries biologist doing an electrofishing survey will find a big bass in a spot you had just cast to with no luck minutes earlier?
  • Why is it that you can toss a lure right into the middle of a school of surfacing white bass and not even get a hit?

Ah, the mysteries of life. Food for thought in the throes of this heat wave.