WE USE TO BASS FISH AT NIGHT. OFTEN IN FACT. VERY OFTEN. THIS PARTICULAR EVENING IT WAS QUITE DARK, NO STARS, NO WIND JUST A PERFECT NIGHT FOR FISHING.
THE BOAT LIVERY WAS OPEN ALL NIGHT AND SERVED FOOD AND SOLD FISHING GEAR. THIS IS WHERE WE RENTED THE BOAT.
WE FISHED FROM ABOUT 8 P.M. UNTIL MIDNIGHT AND NOT ONE STRIKE. I MUST TELL YOU THAT IF THERE HAD BEEN FISH IN THE AREA WE WERE IN TIGER WOULD HAVE TEMPTED THEM TO STRIKE AS HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST FISHERMAN I'VE KNOWN.
WE ROWED BACK TO THE BOAT LIVERY FOR SOME FOOD AND SOME FLASHLIGHT BATTERIES AS MINE WERE GETTING QUITE LOW. I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE THE OLD BATTERIES ON THE COUNTER SO I PUT THEM INTO MY JACKET POCKET AND PLANNED TO PUT THEM IN THE TRASH OUTSIDE. BUT AS USUAL I FORGOT.
WE ROWED BACK OUT TO A SPOT THAT LOOKED GOOD AND AGAIN NOT A STRIKE. AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR I WAS READY TO GIVE UP, BUT NOT TIGER. HE SAID THERE HERE AND I'M GOING TO GET ONE. I SET MY ROD DOWN AND LIT UP A CIGAR AND I FIGURED I JUST RELAX AND WATCH THE PRO...
AT THIS POINT AN IDEA STRUCK ME, I STILL HAD THE BATTERIES IN MY JACKET AND TIGER HAD HIS BACK TO ME SO I THOUGHT I'D HAVE A LITTLE FUN WITH HIM. AT THE SAME TIME HE MADE HIS NEXT CAST I TOSSED A BATTERY IN THE SAME DIRECTION AS HE PLUG WENT. TIGER WENT WILD SAYING DON'T MOVE JACK! DON'T MAKE ANY NOISE THIS IS A BIG ONE. WELL NEEDLESS TO SAY HE DIDN'T HOOK THE BASS. ON THE NEXT CAST OUT WENT ANOTHER BATTERY AND TIGER SAID THIS ONE'S A BIG ONE, PLEASE DON'T MAKE ANY NOISE! DID YOU SEE HIM JUMP AT THE PLUG! HE MUST BE AT LEAST FIVE POUNDS AND OF COURSE I AGREED WITH HIM. BY THE TIME HE HAD MADE HIS FOURTH CAST I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DIVE IN AND CATCH THE FISH BARE HANDED, HE WOULD MOVE THE PLUG JUST AN INCH AT A TIME , A LITTLE TO THE RIGHT AND THEN TO THE LEFT,I MUST SAY IF ANYONE WAS CATCHING FISH IT WAS ALWAYS TIGER. HE WAS FRANTIC AT THIS POINT. I HAD ONE BATTERY LEFT I SHOULDN'T HAVE THROWN IT BECAUSE JUST AS HE WAS ABOUT TO MAKE HIS FIFTH CAST AND I WAS READY TO TOSS THE BATTERY, TIGER LOOKED AROUND AND THERE I WAS BARE FACED READY TO THROW THE LAST BATTERY. I SAID HOW BIG WAS THAT FISH? HE STIFFENED UP, HIS FACE GOT RED AND I THOUGHT I HAD LOST MY BEST FRIEND. HE WAS MAD ENOUGH TO KILL ME.
FOR YEARS AFTER THAT HE SWORE HE WOULD GET EVEN AND MANY TIMES HE TRIED BUT I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO STAY AHEAD OF HIM WHICH DIDN'T DO MUCH FOR MY CONCENTRATION ON FISHING. MY TIME WAS SPENT WORRYING ABOUT WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO NEXT.