The air was crisp & clear & a purple twilight hazed the treetops as we launched lakerfan32s boat on Lake Okiechobie, I�d traveled to Florida to catch up with our man of the moment as he was about to enjoy 1 of his favorite pastimes.
What a life I thought as I took in the peace and beauty of the setting, laying back in the boat & contemplating the 1st bright scattering of stars while laker was setting up his tackle for some heavy duty fishing , the word from the locals was that there were some granddaddy large mouth bass lurking in the area.
We talked a little and as the name suggests he�s a big laker fan & also a keen supporter of the Redskins, Magic Johnson was a sports star that he admired as a kid & in his spare time laker collects diecast Nascar cars, he has 150 of them so far, some of which are almost worth their weight in gold.
All of a sudden the boat rocked alarmingly & I leaped to my feet as laker looked at me with awe in his eyes & said �I�ve got a bite & it feels like a Kenworth truck on the end of the line�, I hurried over to lend what assistance I could and wouldn�t ya know it, there was a gr8 pool of water in the middle of the boat, my big clod hoppers had come down hard on the vacuum flask of coffee when I jumped up & sent it clear thru the bottom of the boat.
There we were, in the middle of the lake with a sinking boat & lakerfan battling a monster on the hook, I could only see 1 solution so I quickly emptied the tackle box n started bailing with 1 hand & paddling with the other but the odds weren�t lookin good, the water was outdoing my efforts & the shore wasn�t getting much closer.
At this point you�re probably thinking �Oh no, not 1 of those fishy stories of the 1 that got away� but it didn�t quite happen that way *wink*, laker was being dragged across the gunwales by this �whale� so I let go of the tackle box n grabbed him around the legs & what d�ya know.. that dang fish dragged us all the way round the lake & eventually came to a gasping halt close to shore, now after saving us from a watery grave do you really think we could eat him..?
Yep, you�re right! Of course we did & a fine succulent dinner he made too accompanied by the salad, baked taters, shrimp (which laker & I share a huge appetite for) & beer we had in the ice cooler on shore, after eating we kicked back & continued our discussion.
Laker has 2 brothers and was born in New Haven Ct but is a native of WV now, the family moved there when he was 5 years old though he has lived in VA, NC & Cali at various times, traveling is also high on lakers list of want to do more of, he�s been thru 18 states of America & would like to be able to visit all 50.
Mom is a role model for laker, she raised the 3 brothers as a single parent and what a gr8 job she did of that as the qualities in this particular son reflect, they are still very close & speak to each other frequently on the phone though he doesn�t get to see her as often as he�d like.
He�s at college at the moment involved in a full time computer technology course which he hopes will lead to his own business, laker has been playing at flipside for quite a while now & has made some lifelong friends online, he also gives the thumbs up to the UK room & the people who play there and on that note I think we�ll call it a night, thanks to laker for his input & his fine sportsmanship on the tables.
From Phoenix Risings roving reporter
Ghost Writer |
