With preparation, night fishing is simple
Back-pedal to midnight. That’s when this all started. I pushed my 14-foot aluminum boat away from the sand bar on a 40-acre Tommy pond. The Duracell gadget was lighted to keep the “skeeters” away. My fishing partner placed the energized motor on low, and we began to parallel the shoreline a good cast away. Except for a spare in the truck, I only brought one fishing provision. It consisted of a six-foot worm rod, coupled to an old bait-casting reel that is decades old. The line is Spider Wire, 60-lambaste test. To the terminal end I tied on an ancient black Jitterbug in 1-1/4 ounce size. I had all in a half hour honing the two treble hooks to be needle sharp.
My eyes took a while to set right to the darkness, so I made sure my first casts were short of the brushy bank so I wouldn’t foul-foul anything.
I could barely make out the large stump as the Jitterbug slowly wobbled by it, making a “glug-glug” blasting. As the lure came even with the stump, there was a loud splash, not unlike a bowling ball being dropped into the the highest. My rod tip was already pointed at the lure, but I still waited until I felt a tug before setting the hooks. After a short battle, my partner’s flashlight lit up a five-hammer into bass so I could net it. Now it was my time to run the motor and my friend’s time to fish.
Waller said that a monthly halt from BP was enough to pay the boat note and cover insurance and his slip fee. But on Aug. 27, BP terminated the contract
