When Bad Times Get Good

One of the best and worst things about being a passionate angler is that the tough times typically outnumber the successes. We wouldn’t fully appreciate the great days if we didn’t have to live through the bad ones, and I’ve had plenty of bad ones. I’ve been stuck in both snow storms and ice storms in Alabama. I’ve been to tidal water when there was too much water as well as when there’s been none at all. I’ve been canceled by wind that showed up and wind that didn’t.

Simply put, if you fish, you know that anything can go wrong and it often will do so.

That’s why it’s important to celebrate, memorialize and remember the times when things go unexpectedly well. Such was the case of my recent trip to Texas and Louisiana.

Hanna and I were scheduled to fly down to Houston on a Friday, drive over toward Lake Charles, and then enjoy a day of redfishing, a day of bass fishing, and a day of alligator hunting. On Friday morning, the redfish guide texted me that conditions were horrible and fishing had been poor before it got worse. Did we want a refund?

At first we were tempted to persevere, but we know that when a guide or outfitter is willing to give back your money it’s usually a sign to stay away. But what were we going to do with the extra time? We call our friends Keith and Jennifer Combs, who miraculously were free, and semi-invited ourselves to their house. On the way, it turned out that our friend Clifford Wiedman was free, too, so we took him to lunch.

Potential disaster number one turned into a success.

We spent a few hours fishing the pond on the Combs property, had a great dinner out, and then decided to fish for crappie on Sunday morning. The first few hours were tough. We caught a few fish, but could see many more on the screen. Then, just as we thought about throwing in the towel, they lit up. One brush pile that had barely produced in the morning suddenly went crazy. We put about 75 crappie in the box.

Potential disaster number two turned into a success.

Then we headed over to our hotel in Lake Charles. We were going bass fishing with our friend Dennis Tietje the next morning. Dennis texted that fishing had been tough that day – he and his clients had caught a dozen fish. We accordingly set our expectations low, and Dennis called an audible by switching lakes. With post-frontal conditions we never expected that we’d catch 30-40 fish on frogs and buzzbaits in the first hour and then piece together an even 100 over the course of a fantastic day.

Potential disaster number three turned into a success.

Then we moved to the lodge at Grosse Savanne, which – if you haven’t been there – is indeed a sportsman’s paradise. We didn’t know if our alligator hunt allowed us to harvest one alligator apiece, or one between the two of us. Oh no, they told us, you get over 20 lines and as many gators as show up. That was a huge bonus. We ended up with eight big lizards. One of the other couples there equaled us, while a third only killed one. But for the luck of the draw, that could have been us.

Potential disaster number four turned into a success.

And of course, Hurricane Francine was bearing down on Louisiana at that very moment. They were going to evacuate the parish at 2pm. We were due to leave a little bit before noon, and we did. Had our trip been scheduled a day or two later, it might well have been canceled. Even worse, there could have been significant damage to the lodge. We and they escaped in time.

Potential disasters number 5a and 5b turned into success. 

Any one of these turns of fortune would’ve been lucky, but all of them together make me exceptionally thankful. I’m lucky that I’ll get plenty of opportunities to do cool things in the future, so my happiness doesn’t hinge on the success of any one trip. Still, it sucks when conditions screw things up. The next time I’m cursing my bad luck, someone needs to remind me of this particular trip, and how truly fortunate we were at every turn.