No fish-fry tonight

This was not going to be a catch-and-release trip. I was thinking fish fry before I even left the house.

I’d gotten word that the bass were biting on a small pond south of town, and although it had rained the previous night, it hadn’t been a gully washer, so we headed out at mid-morning with high hopes.

The rain had done little more than settle the dust. We sped south, anxious to reach the pond, and had smooth sailing for the first 40 miles. Then conditions went south. The closer we got to the pond, the worse the road got.

By the time we turned off the gravel onto a two-track I was h...