| When weather conditions are bad outside, I sit | | | | the house that morning I thought that my brother |
| inside with a roaring fire and make a list of the | | | | and I were the only insane people in Alabama, |
| things I need for my next fishing trip. For this | | | | now I was looking at a whole river full of nutty |
| outing, we would need three things; a rope of at | | | | folks! |
| least 40 feet for the anchor and a bucket of | | | | Saugers tend to congregate around eddy pools |
| minnows. We would also need one ounce blue and | | | | such as those coming out of a tributary like the |
| chartreus jigs to withstand the swift current of | | | | one we were close to that morning. They are |
| the river. | | | | cylindrical fish, light brown speckled, with a couple |
| Down here in the south we call sauger, "jack | | | | of dark blotches on their sides. They have two |
| salmon". As a kid, fishing on the river below | | | | dorsal fins as well as a mouth full of sharp teeth |
| Guntersville Dam, I never knew there was such a | | | | that will lacerate a finger if you're not careful. |
| thing as a sauger until I grew up and read a copy | | | | In my opinion the jack salmon, as I grew up |
| of Field & Stream magazine, and for the first | | | | knowing it, is one of the best tasting fish I have |
| time saw a picture of the fish they called a | | | | eaten out of southern waters. While the annual |
| sauger. I thought they were confused! | | | | spawning run is in April or May, thousands of |
| Last year on a dreary, cloudy, cold and miserable | | | | these tasty fish congregate in the tail waters of |
| morning at daybreak, my brother and I drove | | | | the Guntersville Dam, Wheeler Dam and Wilson |
| down highway 421 from Huntsville, Alabama to | | | | Dam in earlier months. |
| the Guntersville dam on the Tennessee River. As | | | | Like most of the fishermen I could see, I was |
| rotten as the day was, the parking lot just above | | | | also using a heavy jig tipped with a live minnow. |
| the launching ramp was filled with cars and trucks | | | | The jigs head was a fluorescent red with a three |
| with a boat trailer connected to each. We | | | | inch blue haired skirt. After dropping the rig |
| immediately knew the jacks were biting. | | | | overboard, I pulled the bait about a foot off the |
| We put the boat in the water about a half mile | | | | bottom and was reaching for my coffee cup |
| west of the dam. If I thought I was cold before, | | | | when I felt a tug on the line. |
| I was shocked at how frigid it became as I was | | | | I reeled in a two pound sauger just as my |
| zipping down the river at forty miles an hour in | | | | brother had one on also. Within a couple of hours |
| the morning fog. About six miles later, we | | | | we had several good sized fish, and then a late |
| rounded a bend and as if by magic we ran out of | | | | morning sun drenched us with welcomed warmth. |
| the fog and almost banged into group of at least | | | | The fish stopped biting for us as well as the other |
| twenty boats congregated up and down a narrow | | | | boats on the river. |
| passage close to the mouth of the Paint Rock | | | | I've been trying to out- think fish for years. |
| River. | | | | Counting the amount of time and money I've |
| The water here was 30 to 40 feet deep where | | | | spent fishing, it's apparent that the fish have been |
| we anchored the boat. Every few minutes one of | | | | winning. Of all the things I've learned, I still don't |
| the other fishermen would pull in another fish. | | | | know why the sauger population on the river |
| Most of the ones being caught were in the 2 | | | | bites better on the most miserable of days, but I |
| pound and under class, though larger ones | | | | have a theory. |
| occasionally were being hauled into boats up and | | | | I believe that fish give us humans more credit for |
| down the river. | | | | intelligence than we're due. They probably think |
| My brother was frantically trying to get his tackle | | | | that no one is dumb enough to be on the water |
| together and start fishing. I was too cold to think | | | | in such dismal weather, so anything that looks like |
| of anything other than grabbing the Thermos and | | | | food, most likely is tasty. It's only a theory. |
| pouring myself a cup of hot coffee. When I left | | | | |