I am so very glad that the 15th of April has come and gone.

It looks as though everyone has survived this time and not looking forward to another year, maybe the outcome will be the same. The best thing to do after facing the income tax due deal on the 15th is to go fishing and if you have saved enough money make it a fishing trip a long way off. Mine will always be close to home as I like the fishing right here in south Georgia.

On and around the 15th this year we still had way more than enough water to fish in and a few other things also. On that afternoon I had driven up to Newton to see my friend, Herman Coker. He has a hardware store that sells ammo and fishing supplies. He is able to tell me what is going on in the fishing world around Newton, Ga.

What he told me on that particular afternoon wasn’t much due to the river being so high and water being high everywhere else also. I went the West River Road and hit Highway 91 from Colquitt to Newton. There were several places where the water had been across the road, but had moved back so that the pavement was dry, water still lapping up to the edge of the pavement on both sides of the road.

I was think that those folks had been in a heck of a mess back right after the big rains that had caused schools to be suspended in several counties. Water in the Flint River in Baker County will soon be water in Bainbridge. It is not as high there as it was, but neither is it as high here as it was.

Most of the ponds that Mr. Coker was aware of in Baker County had too much fresh water in them for the fish to be aggressive. I had suspected as much and carried only one fishing outfit and left it in the vehicle. Having to get back to Bainbridge fairly early so as to take my granddaughter to dinner, I left Newton and decided to come back the East River Road.

On Highway 37 before I could get to the southbound right turn to take me south, I went through two spots that were as bad or worse than the ones I had seen on Highway 91. The water was still at the edge of the road in both spots. I turned right and didn’t go very far before a sign said that the road was closed and sent me to the left on a road I had never traveled. It took me to Camilla on a road that I didn’t know went to Camilla.

When I realized what it had done and knew where I was I knew that all I had done was sightsee and maybe wasted a little time and a few miles. I had been traveling Highway 97 from Camilla to Bainbridge and knew that it wasn’t blocked, so I rode on back to town, took her to eat and got into the bed later than I should.

This ole worn-out body needs to get its rest, but when I get too much rest I don’t rest good and tossed and turned most of the night. If you are not well rested it can cause you to not detect a strike as well as missing a few that you do feel. I don’t mind giving up a plastic worm for a fish, but I also had much rather just give up one worm per strike and make it count. In other words, don’t miss the fish when he hits the worm.

You know that the high water basically ruined the bedding fishing on the full moon this month, which was the ninth.

With the warm weather we had prior to the ninth, I had expected the fishing to be supreme on the full moon. And I can’t say that they didn’t bite. They may have bitten really great. With the high water and muddy conditions, most folks didn’t pursue the panfish. The week of the 22nd should be another good time if the water has receded and cleared a little. It will be the new moon, dark nights, and on that phase of the moon the shellcracker will bed. Bream may bed also, but not to the extent that the shellcracker, redear sunfish, will.

At this writing we still have places that have water across the road and also places where the road used to be, as it was washed out. Please be careful when traveling our roads and especially those you don’t go down often.