Reentering the World

Our close friends Paul and Angie Pagnato were our last social engagement before the world shut down. Hanna and I went over to their house for dinner the weekend after the Bassmaster Classic, and then we more or less stopped mingling with other people. For me, that wasn’t terribly hard – I worked from home, fished either by myself or with Hanna every weekend, and generally reveled in my status as an unshaven and unabashed curmudgeon.

Eventually, though, you have to exit full caveman status.

Paul’s son Paulie had called me back in January to see if the three of us could fish together on Paul’s birthday, Friday June 5th. I had readily agreed to it at the time, but more or less forgot about it when they left Virginia for their home in South Carolina after our March get-together. Then Paul called me last week to tell me they were coming home for a week and checked if we were still on. After not-quite 100 days of solitude, I was ready to get back to being around other humans, at least on a limited basis.

We met at the ramp, made a short run to a community hole, and didn’t leave for 8 hours. Paulie, who rarely fishes, caught the first two on a vibrating jig. Paul, who used to fish the Bassmaster Opens, caught the biggest, a near 5-pound toad that ate a deadsticked 6-inch Senko. I did my part, too, and by the time we put the boat on the trailer it was one of my best numbers days on the Potomac in quite a while – and even had we not caught as many it still would have been tons of fun. Even a misanthrope like me knows a good time when it happens. The next day Paul and I went out again, and while the numbers weren’t quite as good, we put a few things together and managed to bring some fish slime in the Cat. A good day with a good friend.

Paulie thought he was giving his dad a gift, and I hope that Paul was thrilled with what he received. Meanwhile, in doing so he gave me something nice, too, a chance to reenter the world of the living, and one of the most enjoyable times I’ve had on the water in years.