October Fishing

I went fishing last Sunday, likely for the last time this season. Since moving where I live now, I have gone fishing with my neighbor, Henry, almost every spring and summer Sunday morning. This time, we couldn't launch my boat because the water in the reservoir was too low. There was hardly 6 inches of water at the end of the paved launch, and the docks that parallel the launch were not floating.

We fished for a while on the city boat docks that jut out into much deeper water where boaters can rent a space for a season and watched as others, some with more persistence than we had, tried to launch. None made it into the water while we were there.

We had a conversation with a sail boat owner whose problem was not getting in the water, but getting his boat out. The reservoir is owned by the city of Columbus, and he thought there should have been some warning from them about the low water. He made an arrangement with the sailing club to the east, and under the power of the outboard on his sailboat, headed out across the water. I thought he should be thankful that the water is there for his use. We see the same boats there, week after week, sail and pontoon boats, and sometimes wonder out loud about how often they are used. If he'd used his boat in the last couple of weeks, he'd have known about the water level.

This is a little commercial. There is a fishing bait and tackle store, the Old Dutchman, on Sunbury Road near Central College Road in Westerville, Ohio. It is a family owned place, and is full of cats. I brought them a spinning reel with a bad bail spring (they fix them right on their premises). The reel was a gift from a while ago when I was honored for working at the same place for 30 years, and was not cheap to begin with. It was worth something for me to get fixed. When I went to pick it up, it cost me $5.63. $5.63? Wow.