A Day on the River

A Day on the River

by Robert Tallman

When ever I start to plan a day on the river my mind goes blank of all of the problems and worries of my every day life. Me on the river is a type of therapy that takes your mind and soul away from the worries of work , family ,and just about any problem I can encounter in my daily life. The river I believe is something God created for the purpose of this. 

    Your eyes are open to what a lot of people my not see in a lifetime .The river is full of beauty , and sounds that you will never experience in the hectic life of the inner city , town or community . You have to get out there to experience it for yourself to understand. When I go fishing it is normally when I am by myself and it gives me time to think and process the activities from the days be for. To just think about , well basically anything I want to . 

    The things I see on the river  just  put me in a type of trance that I can not explain. I have seen things that only can be seen from a boat . There is no access to some of the areas I go unless you have a boat. The beauty of the landscape in a long stretch of untouched river banc is something you need to experience for your self .

    The wildlife that I have seen is ,well different from what you would see from a car or a walk through the

back yard. When your drifting down the river and you see a mother doe and some fawns stopping to take a drink from the river , it is something that puts you back in your seat and just takes you away.

    On the river , you never know what you might encounter. I have seen many ,many deer, turkeys , bear and just so much more. When was the last time you could look over and see a couple of river otters swimming and playing and just doing what otters do. Or look up and see the Amazing Bald Eagle soaring over head looking for his next meal.

    I have seen things that most people will only see in books or zoos. But its out there for everyone to see, its not a hidden treasure . Well actually it is a treasure of the sorts. God put all of this out here for a reason , and I believe his reason was for therapy . To show the world that life can be simple , beautiful and amazing . You just got to take the time to seek it out.

     Now when I go I do love to chase the magnificent Blue Catfish. Most People I talk to just tell me , anyone can catch a catfish . And that’s true . But not everyone can go out and plan on catching a 30 lb plus catfish. I have only caught one of that size my self  but it’s the  challenge 

of the hunt to me . You never know what might bite that hook at any certain time . Just the other day I was fishing , and again I was just in the moment of looking at all the sights . Now how all my poles are set for my fishing , is I have a rod rack on the back of my boat that holds four poles .

    I was sitting there not paying much attention to my poles , and all off the sudden one off my poles did the tap  tap of the normal bite of a small fish coming in to test the bait out , so I thought . All of the sudden the pole went down very hard and the line went up under the back of the boat with an amazing force and then snap. The pole sprang back up and about 5" of the tip of my pole was gone . And so was what I think was a blue catfish of a lifetime . But what do you do . You sit there with your mouth open and think what just happened . And then you smile , he won this time , but il get him next time .

    There was another time I went to the river , this was two weeks ago , that it started out real slow with not even the slightest nibble .The day went on  and then after about 4 hours of sightseeing I got that tap  tap and my pole went down . I got the rod and managed to get the fish in . A respectable 10 lb blue . He was in the bottom of my boat as I was trying to get the hook out of his mouth and I out of the corner of my eye I could see another pole went down . So I let the first fish I caught be for the moment and grabbed the other pole . As I was reeling in that fish the two other poles went down at the same time . Boy I tell you what, catching a big blue is a lot of fun , but having four poles going down at once is just something you will have to experience for your self.

    You talk about a lot of fun and excitement . It really gets your blood pumping . Well that little run in a had with them fish , plus two more in the same spot was all I got that day . But it turned out to be a great day . Any day on the river for me is a great day . To catch a fish is just a bonus. So if you do anything in your hectic life , make sure you take the time to take a boat out , and take a slow drift down a secluded river and allow your eyes to wonder and see what God has to offer . It will simply amaze you . And hey you might even catch a fish or two.