I had a free day and wanting to catch some crappie I set out for Benbrook Lake to fish a few spots that in years past I have done well on spawning fish. On my walk to my spot I passed an older fellow bank fishing with tight lines cast out to deeper water.
I worked the spot that has produced well for me in the past, I only had one taker and I missed the connection when the float went under. On my way back to where I parked, I once again passed the man this time I was closer to him. He looked at me and said something I think in Japanese then using his index finger started pointing at me.
I was carrying my one rod in my left hand and my soft tackle box and fish basket in the right hand. He was facing my left side and as he keep pointing at my lower half and moving quickly towards me I had the feeling you get when someone says "don't move" and they motion like they are going to try to knock a big spider off of you.
I got kind of freaked out and started looking around my own waist and backside like a dog chasing his tail. When he reached me he took hold of my fishing rod with both hands, one on each side of my hand. He did not try to pull it out of my hand but instinctively I clamped down on my rod.
He used both hands to move my rod back and forth as he leaned over and stared intently at my spinning reel.
He took a few moments to look at it; he moved the bail back and forth, then he muttered "Oooooooooo" and released the rod. At that point I was just thankful a snake or some other creepy crawly was not on me or coming out of my tackle box.
I did not know at that point what to say other than you catching anything?
He just opened his arms in a wide expansion like an umpire would calling the player safe at the plate.
I hope that old man does not do that to everyone, I have seen Cats down there that I would not make eye contact with even if I thought I recognized them from America's Most Wanted posters.

No harm, no foul. Just another memory to think back on only this one is not about what I caught but the weird encounter with an old fisherman at Benbrook Lake. We may not speak the same verbal language or share the same culture rules but we share the same universal language of fisherman from around the globe, we love to fish and see what the other fella is using is really not that unusual at all, still....lol

Nice story Mike, I hope the fishing gets better over there real soon.

I promise you, he is not the only Whack O that fishes from the bank over there.

Thanks Killa,
The old fellow was cool. He gave me something to laugh about on my ride home. Now I have seen some folks that look like the real deal from the show Breaking Bad. I would much rather share a bank with the man I met today than some of those characters.