Bass fishing and rubber worms go hand in hand. You can spend your money on fancy, shiny, spinning lures, but the rubber worm has been my choice ever since the day that I hooked the biggest largemouth bass I had ever seen.
It was about midday and me and my brother, Jim, had gotten into one of our frequent arguments. We were both in our late teens and even though I really loved him; I had reached the point where I realized that trying to reason with him was like trying to reason with a two-year-old. I left the house, grabbed my fishing pole, which thankfully had a rubber worm on it, and headed for the lake.
It was a private lake about a fifteen minute walk through the woods from our back door. The lake was peaceful and I enjoyed the tranquility, standing beneath the big cypress tree, casting out at the lilies.
I wasn’t really trying to catch anything, especially that time of the day, but was mostly trying to settle down and cool off. After casting about a half dozen times, I got snagged. That’s what’s bad about casting out around the lilies. It’s easy to get snagged.
Not wanting to lose my leader, I pulled firm but steady on the line until it gave way then I reeled it back. The leader was okay, but the rubber worm had a little split in it. I didn’t care and just kept casting out in the same spot, slowly reeling it back. Doing that was kind of therapeutic for me and I was beginning to calm down. But there was no way I was going to go back to my brother’s constant bickering.
Jim and I are Christians. I love Jesus, and also love my brother, and had no doubt about my brother’s love for our Savior. However, as teenagers, I guess you could say that our Christian attitude was still in its early stages, and we were always fighting about one thing or another.
Anyway, I kept casting my line and after about thirty minutes or so, I got snagged again. Lowering the pole, I pulled steady on the line, but it simply stretched. I pulled harder but it wouldn’t budge. I tried short tugs then a steady pull and again, it wouldn’t budge. I figured that was it. I was going to have to lose my leader. I wrapped the line around my arm and pulled hard.
The line gave way and the biggest bass I had ever seen in my life came at least six feet out of the water! It danced in midair then plunged back down with a splash!
I’m absolutely positive that my eyes and mouth were wide open as I stood dumbfounded, frozen to the ground, not believing what I was seeing. But I came out of quick because the fish took off, and the line was still wrapped around my arm.
The line cut through my skin as I wrestled it off and grabbed the pole with both hands. The big fish was all over the lake, first one way, and then the other. I knew I was in trouble when it headed for the lily pad to tangle the line. I gave him some slack and ran along the bank to turn him. Then I stopped, tightened the line, and steered him away. The line shifted and I reeled it back. Out of the water he came, dancing in the air!
Experiences like that need to be shared, and there wasn’t a dang soul around to see it! I was actually hoping at that moment that my bellyaching brother (the little maggot!) was coming to look for me so he could see what I was witnessing.
The fish hit the water with a splash and headed for the bottom. He kept shifting directions and I was afraid the leader was going to give. I had never fought a fish like that. I’m rather small-boned and wasn’t real strong. My arms started getting tired and I kept looking back, hoping my brother would show up.
I got tired and careless, letting him lure me back to the lilies. By the time I realized it, it was too late. The line stopped moving. He’d wrapped it around the lilies.
At that point, I had no choice but to pull steady on it. My arm was bleeding where the line had cut it. Regardless, I wrapped the line around my arm and pulled steady. It gave way. The leader broke. I lost him.
When I got back to the house and told Jim what happened, he didn’t believe me. Oh he believed I may have caught or almost caught a fish, but he seriously doubted the size of it.
Actually, I don’t think anyone truly believes me and thinks I’m exaggerating when I tell them my story about the one that got away. If I was the kind of person who normally exaggerated things, I could understand, but I’ve always been quite levelheaded. And as a Christian, I wasn’t prone to lies.
Nevertheless, I know what happened that day. A rubber worm with a slit in it, snagged me the biggest largemouth bass I had ever seen. Trust me when I say that when you’re fishing for bass, a rubber worm is all you need.
