It's Like Seeing A Ghost

This weekend my friend Kyle and I went to the Cumberland River here in Kentucky to do some trout fishing. I was really looking forward to this trip because it would be only the second time I'd go fishing all year. And it's September, if you hadn't noticed. Well, we got out there, having been shuttled about seven miles upriver from where we'd come off the water. That way, we wouldn't have to paddle upstream at all that day. We caught four or five fish right away, and we made the mistake that two experienced fishermen should never make.

We said to ourselves, "If we're catching fish this easy, let's throw these back, and we'll start keeping 'em later."

Well, let me tell you right now that arrogance like that really offends trout. And they let you know it. They ignore everything you've got to lure them in. They shun you like I shun White Castle in the morning. We caught a few more fish, and a lot of stripes. But we only brought two home with us. Kyle did catch a very fat, nice looking brown trout, but you can only bring home browns if they are over twenty inches long. I won't even tell you about the ones that got away (even though there witnesses!) because you won't believe me (I never believe those stories either.)

BUT....

There is a reason that a picture of a Bobcat is at the top of this fishing post. The highlight of the day came when I was fishing and I saw some movement over on the shore.

I said, "Kyle, I think there's a cat over there."

He goes, "You mean, like a housecat?"

"No, I don't think so..."

And when we saw the bobtail, we knew for sure. For those of you who don't know, and think that you see things like bobcats, mountain lions, and twelve point bucks every time you enter the woods, know that that is as far from the truth as you can possibly get. Kyle's dad has been trying to find bobcats for years, and has never even seen one in the wild. At one point, the cat hunkered down in a little outcropping of grass on the riverbank, and if we hadn't just seen it crouch down, we would never have known it was there. They're like ghosts out there in the wild.

Well, it was just walking along the shore about thirty feet from our canoe. We floated next to it for several minutes. And then we pulled up on a snag as the cat climbed up on a big boulder and just sat there looking at down the river. It was an amazing experience. If ever an animal has been made to kill things, it is a wild cat. There is simply no doubt when you see the muscles ripple under their skin, and the way they slink through the grass. Their very posture speaks of violence. When the eyes turned to look at us in our boat, I found myself reaching for my paddle (yeah, like that'll help) just in case. But it just sat there for several minutes as though sharing a moment of it's time with the two of us. And we enjoyed it. I can't exactly say that the bobcat is a very pretty thing, or even handsome. I'm not sure he is, and I'm not sure he cares. However, to see him in the wild, where he is as hard to find as, well, a needle in a haystack, that's pretty incredible.

I've always enjoyed fishing, but that's not why I go. Sure, the feel of a rod bucking in my hands and the sight of flashing silver just out there in the water give a guy powerful feelings. But that's nothing to sharing time with friends and family. That's nothing to soaking up the beauty of God's nature, and having intimate moments with the ghosts of the wilderness, those rare moments you only find when you take the time to be there.

We've got pictures of the one we saw. Once they are developed, I'll try and post one or two.