Return to our lake

For the first time this summer, my husband, Tim, and I had a fishing trip go as planned.

After fixing the wheel bearings on the trailer, Tim was confident we could take the boat on longer treks. We tested his theory last Friday and returned to a lake near where he used to live.

When we first met, Tim lived in the town of Keswick. It’s a tiny place near Sigourney. After we first started our fishing adventures together, Tim took me to a small lake in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Lake Yenruogis, which is Sigourney spelled backwards, quickly became “our lake.” It is definitely the one we have visited the most and even took our engagement photos there.

We haven’t been back to the lake in nearly two years, so when the opportunity presented itself to return, we took it. The lake is a little more than an hour away but seeing the beautiful scenery was well worth the drive.

Don’t get me wrong, we enjoy going to the wonderful lakes here in Jasper County, but Yenruogis will always have special meaning to us.

The water was much higher than the last time we were there, which wasn’t surprising given all of the snow melt and rain we’ve had this year. It’s a small lake, so only an electric trolling motor is necessary to move you around its waters.

We were the only ones on the lake that evening and could only hear the voices of a few campers throughout the grounds to break the silence. Other than that, we were left with buzzing insects and croaking frogs as we made our way around the lake, hoping to catch a few fish.

It’s getting a little later in the summer, so bass are well into their spawning season, meaning we didn’t get as many bites as we were hoping. However, it was still a fairly successful outing. I had the first and the last catch of the day. That last catch made me the overall winner of the night with 10 fish to Tim’s nine. We always keep count, but Tim and I really aren’t overly competitive about it. At least I try my best not to be.

Tim had the biggest catch of the day with a keeper-sized bass. However, we are catch-and-release fishing folks, so even the biggest fish live to swim another day. Tim also had the smallest catch of the day. He caught a sunfish so littlehe didn’t even realize it was still on the hook until he brought his lure close to the boat. The fish had gotten itself caught on the other treble hooks of the rapala so it wasn’t able to put up a fight anymore. It was stuck sideways, more or less. Tim quickly freed the little guy and returned him to the water.

I caught the one and only crappie of the day. It was only the second one I’ve ever caught at the lake. It was another keeper-sized fish, but again we just took a quick photo and let it go.

The most frustrating part of the day was both Tim and I had several fish on the line that got off the hook before reeling them into the boat. I got three fish within five feet, about to grab the line to bring them in all the way, when they flipped around one last time and freed themselves from the hook. I lost count how many unsuccessful hits we had, but I’m sure it was in double digits between the two of us.

We would have stayed at the lake longer, but we ran out of daylight. So we simply hauled the boat out of the water and back onto the trailer then headed for home. It was a lovely evening out on the lake. I’m so happy Tim and I were able to return to our lake. Hopefully we can get back there a few more times before the end of summer.

Contact Pam Pratt at pampratt@newtondailynews.com