Well my little bug from last month has turned into something a little nastier, and I find myself laid up yet again. All this downtime provides lots of time to reflect on the memories and experiences of the past year. After travelling through and fishing in 10+ states and a couple provinces, I`ve built up a bunch of them in 2011. Some good, some bad, and some just amazing.

The Snakes - Whilst practicing for the Kingston Open on Lake Ontario, I was doing some shallow water jerkbaiting when I saw a water snake about 3 feet long sitting motionless on the surface poised like he was ready to strike. Curious as to what was going on,I approached slowly to check it out. As I neared I noticed a Smallie about 3 lbs angled upward just below the snake, ready take it down! I quickly laid my drop shot rig in front of her which she sucked up without heasitaion resulting in a visit the topside of the Ranger. WOW. After a quick laugh at the experience I turned to keep fishing when I noticed another snake with yet another Smallie stalking it from below. Like deja vu, out went the dropshot, and in came another Smallie,this one a little over the 3lb mark. Now these fish weren't big enough to play for me in this tournament, but I'd found a cool little pattern that I can guarantee sometime, somewhere down the road will help me on the water!

The experience didn't end there, when I turn back to look at that first snake, he was diving down toward the bottom in about 5 feet of water, I kept an eye on him, and up he popped, struggling with a little treaty in his yap. A closer inspection saw a Goby about 6 inches long becoming a meal for this snake. I was awed to see that the Goby has slipped in to become an important part of our local food chain not only for the Smallies, but probably for anything that can get a hold of one!

Catching fish is only a part of the whole game, take a look around and enjoy the ride.