The Perfect Day of Peace and Quiet

It didn't matter that I had been up all night working. The invitation was received two days earlier from my son, who is married, and a Father of four. His Father-in-Law, Hank, was ready to take the boat out onto the water again. And for the first time in over a year and a half, I could finally participate in their day of fishing. Because of my work commitments, and several other minor factors, I hadn't been able to go with them for a great day of fishing.

Mother Nature even cooperated this time. The weather this summer in New England has been terrible, with limited sunshine, and cool temperatures. But this day called for sunshine, with temps in the low 80's. Perfect to go out onto the reservoir, our favorite, and only fishing destination in our world.

The morning could not get here quick enough. As each hour passed, I glanced at my watch, counting down the minutes until we would be out on the water. As daylight approached, I could tell by the clear blue sky, that our day would be just fine. I almost ran out of my place of employment at quitting time, and looked quickly around for my Son's truck. He quickly gathered me up, and we were on our way to a great day.

As anticipated, Hank was more than ready when we arrived at his house. The boat was uncovered. hooked up to the back of his truck, and fully loaded with fishing gear, along with a few coolers. We were like three little kids as we got into the truck, and began our 20 mile drive to the reservoir. We all joked about all of the fish that the two had told me about catching, minus me, and we challenged each other for the day.

After stopping for a much needed coffee, we were on our way. Along the way, my Son alerted us to an open field, where a young doe was frolicking in the morning sun. This was not something that one would see every day, and we knew it was a sign of the day to come.

We arrived at our destination, the most magnificent body of water on the face of the earth, the Quabbin Reservoir, a man made body of water officially located in Belchertown, Ma. Containing some 413 billion gallons of water, and hundreds of islands and coves, it is the ultimate location for a bass fisherman, or any person who loves being part of nature.

Not being part of the boat loading routine, I stood back and watched as my Son Wade, and his Father-in-Law Hank, got the boat into the water in what seamed like 15 seconds. The only fly in the ointment was one grouchy fisherman, who was preparing to launch his own boat, who complained we were not following protocol, and took too long launching. How could anyone be grouchy on a day like today? We took the high road, and got into our boat, to begin our journey onto the reservoir.

As Hank got his magnificent boat on it's way, I chose to make the same proclamation as I always made while traveling to our first fishing spot. Looking around at the beautiful scenery around us, I stood, and proclaimed that yes, 'We were the kings of the world!" While Hank just shook his head at me, Wade knew that I was truly enjoying every second of this day.

On the way to our first stop, we saw a very large bald eagle, perched on the top of a tree, on one of the hundreds of small islands. If you have never seen a bald eagle, especially in flight, that's all I have to say is that they are the most powerful and majestic creatures that God ever created. Because of the relentless efforts of local experts, the eagle population on, and around the reservoir has grown tremendously in the past several years, something that we are all thankful for, as we quietly watched this beautiful bird.

Arriving at our first fishing "spot," if you can have a spot on 413 billion gallons of water, we all anxiously got our poles ready, and threw out our first casts of the day. This day was indeed different for me, as I normally fished using my own bait of choice, shiners, and of course, my own fishing pole. But my pole was missing in action this day, and I was using my Son's extra. And after listening to the two of them tell me about all of the fish they had caught with lures, I decided that I too, would try lures, something I had never really done.

Now came the only stressful part of our entire day. No self respecting fisherman or fisher women can get shut out on catching a fish on any given day. And a boat with three fisherman had a job to do. Catch the first fish, and break the shutout. There had been times when we did not catch a single fish, which is basically impossible on this body of water. So the clock was now ticking. Hank had an "almost" first catch, but as we always say, if it's not in the boat, it didn't count. Game on. I nervously used the lure my Son had provided me, and had no clue as to what to expect. As I reeled my line in after several casts, it happened, I broke our shutout. I landed a beautiful, albeit not large, first small mouth bass of the day.Our boat shutout was gone!

Now it was time to route for everyone in the boat to catch a fish. As the day progressed, we all did just that. Hank caught the largest fish of all of us, a four pound small mouth bass that gave him a great fight. Any fish that is caught in this reservoir is beautiful, because of the clean water. Among the species that are abundant in the reservoir are Salmon, Lake Trout, and small and large mouth bass, the latter being not common. So every cast is an adventure, and every fish is breath taking. We always catch and release our fish, sometimes after a very quick picture or two.

One of the best parts on our trip came during a glide to another spot, where we saw two Loons, which was not unusual. What was different was that they were guiding two babies in between them. What an unusual sight, but all part of the beauty of Quabbin. In between catching fish, we always enjoy the peacefulness of the scenery, along with a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and idle chit chat. While on the water at Quabbin, the rest of the world seems so very far away.

As we ended our trip, we listened to several other boaters complain about not catching anything that day, as we quietly chuckled to ourselves, and felt proud of our fishing skills. On the drive home, we passed another field, full of wild turkeys and it's babies. Our day not only was perfect, it was almost like going to a zoo for the day. All things not seen on any regular basis, and all things that made us look forward to our next trip. Maybe next time, Wade and Hank will catch more fish that me, but I'm not about to give up bragging rights easily.

If you live in Ma; and want to spend a great day on the water, do yourself a big favor. Go to Quabbin Reservoir, and either rent a boat, bring you own, or just sit on the shoreline with a picnic lunch. It will be a day you will never forget, guaranteed. I can't wait for our next trip!