I leave the house late and in a hurry on Sunday morning. I'll stop to get smokes and gas on the way, I'm starving and will stop and get breakfast on the way and pick up something for lunch, I'll stop and get a stringer in case I catch some crappie and I'll keep a close eye on my rear tire that has a screw in it but hasn't shown any signs of leaking air. Haven't fished in a few weeks and got the urge bad with the warmer weather. Headed for Murvaul and get fifteen minutes out of town with first pit stop in Summerfield. Uh oh, I've left my wallet at home. Do quick calculations and determine I've got enough gas to make it to the lake and back with 15 miles to spare and decide to press on. No way I'm turning around at this point.

I'm a little concerned as I don't have my drivers license or fishing license, and only a few bucks of chump change in my cup holder. My biggest concern is I've only got 6 smokes to last the day. This could be a short trip. I try to conserve my smokes but just the thought of not having a full back has got me chain smoking.

Stop at small store near lake... they don't sell stringers, but am told another store nearer the lake sells fishing stuff. Check tire and continue on. Stop again and the second store has fishing stuff but out of stringers. The good news is I can now spend my wad on eats.. I go with a pack of cheese crackers, a large dr pepper and a three musketeers with about 90 cents to spare. I'm feeling good. By the time I make it to the lake and unload, I've got three cigs... leave one in the car, smoke one when I launch, and have one when I get back.

The fishing was slow... stayed deep and threw mainly a 6xd and spoon. Went shallow for a while nothing. Went back to bridge and joined the crappie fishermen, caught a couple of bar jacks and a catfish. Finally late in the day I got a couple of bass. Made the drive home with the fuel light on the last 40 miles. All in all a good day and cheap.

Nice end to a rough start... Good work!

Good story! Some days you just gotta take a chance.

Man, you had me on pins and needles just reading the story.

Those bass are worth more than three cigarettes and no gas. Nice story and report.

Nice post and fish. Good job.

Some days you end up asking yourself "why did I even get out of bed?"
Then again, at times, persistence pays off in the end if you can hang in there long enough!