To receive a gift that comes straight from the giver’s heart is more than just a feeling of appreciation, it makes you feel loved and worth a person’s time. Now, to be that giver and to witness the elation your receiver protrudes, it makes you feel that you are making a difference in someone else’s life.

     It was August of 2008. Although the days of August were warm, they were clear. A great day for fishing, Crappie fishing. Crappie fishing for many exists only during the springtime, but for me anytime they are biting is a good time. A recently good friend of mine, Bob, whom I duck hunted with exclusively happened to mention his Crappie fishing endeavors which ended 15 years ago. As mentioned earlier, like many others Bob only Crappie fished during springtime. I figured it was time to show Bob that that was just a myth.

     Although my lake of choice is Rend Lake, I fish at various lakes and water spots in Southern Illinois. Because I live in Mount Vernon in Illinois, Rend Lake is the closest and most convenient for me. Instead, I decided to take Bob and Jon to Kincaid Lake which is located just outside of Murphysboro. When we met up at a local gas station, it was pretty hilarious to see this white-haired guy considered by many “big and tall” pulling out portable chairs out of a mini van. I assume he expected me to show up with my War Eagle mainly used for waterfowl hunting. Instead I showed up with my 2005 Skeeter Bass boat crowned with a 200 HP Yamaha motor. The Skeeter already fitted with the essentials and storage room to boot, I added a troller motor, a fish finder, and decorated the blue carpet of the boat with my fishing rods.

     Ready to catch some Crappie, we arrived at Kincaid at 8 am. The sun, already up for a couple of hours, made the greenish brown lake glisten. It almost looked like tiny round cut diamonds just sitting on a bed of water. Even though that morning the air was crisp, clean, and still cool from the previous night’s breezes, I knew it was going to get fiercely hot. In no way shape or form, the upcoming hot weather for the day was going to stop us from catching Crappie.

     After getting the boat on the water and parking the truck and trailer, we slowly sloshed through the no wake zone. Now, usually I gun it once I pass that buoy, but being that I have never fished with Bob and Jon, I had no idea what their pet peeves were in regards to water crafting and fishing. With that being said, I took a chance and blasted for our first Crappie site. The lake was already crowded with summer boaters and their tubers as well as jet skiers which caused ripples among the lake. The speed we were going was reflected in our flapping cheeks, squinted eyes, and what looked like pomade-slicked back hair. The ripples we launched off of like ramps made all three of us temporarily leave our seats. As I look over to my passengers for facial expressions of either approval or disapproval, I start to pull back a little on the throttle just in case my new friends are hating this sudden feeling of “what’s the frickin’ rush?” An ear-to-ear smile from Jon eased all worries. He later confessed that it was better than any of the rides featured at Six Flags.

     Our first site can almost be described as a witch’s hand with curling finger nails reaching out from her mildew-colored blanket trying to grasp for help. As I was getting our rods ready, I could sense the excitement from both father and son. A father excited to share a fisherman’s obsession with his son. A son excited to learn about his father’s old-time obsession. And for me, excited to restore, recapture, and reiterate what it means to Crappie fish. We end up using spinning reels and jigs. To practice, Bob casts his pole out and hooked a small Bass with a minnow. It set the tone for what was yet to come and we were overly excited. The water was at 17’ and as I started to vertical fish, I caught the first Crappie of the day. When I felt that bite, I tugged just a tiny bit and hooked whatever was at the end of my line. As I started reeling it up, Bob and Jon could not wait to see if it was a Crappie. I knew it was but since I have never fished with them before, I was hoping that it really was so as if not seem pompous or full of crap when I express my passion for Crappie fishing. We ended up keeping it because it measured in at 9”. Altogether we caught 15-20 Crappie at the very first site before heading off to the next.

     Blasting off to another cove, the water measured in at up to 19’. We did a lot better at this site as in number of fish. Bob was not catching very many Crappie, but Jon and I brought in 30-40. Jon kept teasing his dad about not being able to catch many Crappie, but there was not any animosity. After leaving this site, we started to feel the day’s heat. To cool off, I jumped into the lake, but only for a minute. I got back in the boat and we were back to fishing.

     Although we did not want to stop fishing, we ended our Crappie excursion with 90-100 count. Obviously, we did not keep all of them, but after a quick stop to my home, I ended up cleaning and filleting the Crappie and sending it home with Bob and Jon to enjoy. They both left with smiles on their faces which left me with the unspoken honor of creating a bond between a father and son which was once thought to be lost.