First Fish for Emmanuel

First Scoring Fish for Emmanuel

I was fortunate to have one of our newest members on my boat at our Clear Lake fishing event.  Emmanuel Jadhav, a faculty member in the College of Health Professions joined our fishing club this year.  Before the first event on the Muskegon River, we spent some time at MC Sporting Goods sorting through the fishing tackle options to find the right reel, pole, and related accessories.  The biggest shopping challenge was finding just the right tackle box!  We had the store assistant load the reel with new fishing line and as fishing goes, the first challenge was in place.  You see, the store clerk overfilled the reel and we all know what this does when we need our equipment to work right during the short time we are competing.  Fishing line comes off the end of the reel’s spool in twists and many times ends up being a big ball of line with knots!  Emmanuel’s first challenge was in place, removing the extra line to avoid this problem.  This setup the next lesson and that was to have a second fishing pole that could be used when another is out of action or a quick tackle change is in order. He took my advice and purchased another rod and reel combo.

Chuck Rathbun and Rick Manuszak took Emmanuel out the first few trips.  Emmanuel crafted his casting technique no doubt with the help and coaching of these guys.  I am certain that by Emmanuel observing them, he picked up other important techniques to help further his journey into becoming a successful fisherman.

On Clear Lake, Emmanuel busted out his new rod and reel combo and we loaded it up with new fishing line.  We added a Texas Rig to it and put the first soft plastic bait on and he was ready!  I watched Emmanuel cast and he did well.  He is patient and unlike many other first time fishermen, does not give up!  The fish on Clear Lake were not short on biting and this setup a perfect student scenario.  Emmanuel was not the instructor this time, he was the student and the fish were teaching him how it works.

Last Scoring Fish for Emmanel, Largest for Him (Note the serious veteran fishing face, he is close to graduating!)

His first fish came early and though it was 12.5 inches, Emmanuel could not have been more pleased.  It was fun watching his excitement afterward and how delighted he was with this experience.  It seemed to make everything worthwhile, that one fish.  There was plenty of more action yet to come.

As the evening went on, bite after bite came to him and he was learning.  Things like keeping the line tight, when to set the hook, the importance of the rod position, and how the drag works.  Emmanuel had plenty of fish on, and many got off.  But he made adjustments each and every time and there were some fish closer to 8:00pm that were not going to be as lucky.

During our last hour, as we were all evening long, a drift sock was keeping our boat parallel to the wind and we used it the wind at our backs for casting.  In 8-10 feet of water, Emmanuel had a bite and set the hook, fish on!  This fish was large enough, but would we be able to get it into the boat?  The reel was going, the drag was making noise, and the fish was diving into the weeds.  Oh no, it looked like the fish was getting tangled into the weeds.  Emmanuel was calm and kept the rod high, the line tight, and played that fish like a piano!  After we got it in the boat and confirmed it was legal, we filled up the back livewell and put the first scoring fish for Emmanuel in it.  Remember the early excitement?  This was that times two.

During the 8:00pm hour and about 20 minutes after the last fish, he did it again, fish on!  There was something different though, this was bigger.  He did well with the reeling and drag, keeping the line tight, but even then, the fish managed to get down in the weeds.  I was worried that it would wrap itself in the vegetation and the fish would be lost.  To my surprise, it did not and freely came out and right up into the net.  Fish number two secured.  Emmanuel’s excitement level surpassed the first two.  We added it to his livewell while the other fish tried to jump out.  In one night, he is tied for seventh place with Kyle Randle at 3 lbs 13 oz.  Oh, and while he did all this, he was helping me net my fish.  Thank you Emmanuel and congratulations!