This past weekend being the final one before the official start of Summer , Memorial Day weekend , I took advantage of the nice weather and spent three days floating for smallies with some good friends. Whether or not to go fishing is never a difficult decision for me , but when you throw in the opportunity to spend a couple of nights hanging out at a perfect little fishing cabin with a great group of guys , it's a true no-brainer.
While the rest of the guys were arriving Friday after work or Saturday morning , Sean and I decided to meet Friday morning and get in a full day of floating and fishing.
We had the boat in the water by 9:00 and didn't waste any time in hooking up with our intended quarry.
We picked right back up where we left off on the last trip and just had a blast chucking streamers for fat smallies.
The fish were a little more spread out than on our previous trips so it took some work to figure them out again but once we had established a pattern...it was on.
We made a full day of it and didn't pull the boat up to the takeout until after 7:00 , one fantastic day down and we were just getting started.
That night we met up with one of the other guys at the cabin and then headed into the nearest town for a little authentic Ozark mexican food (when the menu is written in Spanish I think you can call it authentic?). The food was surprisingly good , although by the next afternoon it was questionable as to whether a couple of the guys should have been allowed to eat such fare when one has to spend the day in a boat with them. We finished off the night sitting out on the cabin porch with some adult beverages and a few cigars talking about the next days plans.
Saturday was a carbon copy of the day before...one of the other guys decided to hop in the boat with us and it didn't take long before we'd all met with at least one of the locals.
The smaller fish are definitely getting active and we caught a bunch of those , but there were enough nice fish mixed in to keep you on your game hoping for that next good eat.
It was a great day on the water with a couple of good friends. The fishing was great , mix in with that a streamside lunch and an afternoon of digging sweating beverages out of the cooler. What more can I say....
We finished up the evening still getting chases and eats right across from the takeout as the rest of our group loaded up.
That night we had the whole crew at the cabin and celebrated the day with a meal fit for a king and a few cold beverages while we sat around talking about the days fishing.
There's just no better way to end a good day of fishing than sitting around a firepit with a group of friends and a good cigar...perfection.
Sunday we got up early and loaded up our gear out of the cabin before hooking up the boats and heading for the access. We had a full crew floating today , seven guys...two dogs and three drifters.
We got a few looks from some of the locals who probably aren't accustomed to seeing driftboat armadas floating down this particular river.
Sunday the fishing was a little bit slower for us , we still managed to catch some decent numbers but only a few quality fish.
Of course we lost a few that would have changed that but that seems to always be the case when Sean and I hit the water. We fished at a little faster pace and hit the takeout around 5:00 to accomodate the several hour drive that most everyone still had to make to get back home.
While we stood around unloading gear and securing boats the conversation naturally revolved around the weekends fishing , while I heard a few groans about the one that got away I didn't see anything but smiles when it came to the great weekend we'd just had. Another fantastic weekend floating another Ozarks stream for those beautiful smallmouth...Life is Good!
