This time of year I shoot doves as much as I possibly can, but there is yet another passion that vies for my attention. Fall fishing, more accurately fall fishing in our beloved Ogeechee River. I have had a love affair with our river my entire life.
My favorite thing to do in our river is “reel’’ for bass and jackfish in the fall. I started out doing it in my teenage years. Back then, the guys who were proficient at catching them in the fall did not offer any advice for those interested in doing the same. It almost seemed as if it were a secret, and they were not willing to share any knowledge.
I was pretty much on my own, there was a lot of trial and error and there were not very many fish put in the boat either. I had listened to the stories of the old men since I was a boy about those revered jackfish. I was determined to figure it out and join the ranks of my predecessors, although they were indifferent about whether or not I figured it out.
Year after year, I paid my dues to the river gods. I was relentless in my pursuit of knowledge about that mystical black water. Finally, I became somewhat capable of catching a mess of fish in the waters of that hallowed river.
By the time I was into my late twenties, I had garnered the respect of the older men in regard to fishing in the river. It was not long after that I was being invited to fish with them. I had arrived. Most folks my age were worried about being successful in the eyes of the world. I was concerned with being like the old men and being successful in our river. For all practical purposes, that’s what I’m still concerned with.
I started fishing with Mr. Hogarth Sandeford on a regular basis. He possessed a mountain of knowledge about the Ogeechee River. He would point out to me where the river used to run and how it changed during the course of his life. He knew what stretches of the river held fish as well as the stretches that did not. I was just like a sponge; I was soaking it all up.
We fished in wooden paddle boats that had been handcrafted by L.A. Kemp who had also been the miller at McKinney’s Pond when they were grinding corn meal. Those boats were made to traverse the river with a wooden boat paddle made from cypress. It was old-school at its best and being the great romantic I am about the ways of old, I was utterly enamored.
We did not trailer the boat, instead it rode in the back of the truck tied down with an old piece of rope. We would park my truck at the designated boat landing that we would take out at. We would then drive to another boat landing to launch the boat. Most of the runs that we made were about five hours of fishing time. That’s five hours of the best living one could ever hope to experience, catching fish or otherwise.
We fished with bait casting reels attached to a 5’6” casting rod that had a pistol grip handle. We did not use any of the modern fishing equipment that had taken the world over. The lures were old-school as well, primarily floating minnows. Mr. Hogarth had a small tacklebox that contained enough floating minnows to last a lifetime.
The whole affair was steeped deep in tradition, it had all started long before my time. A wooden boat, a wooden paddle, old reels and one of the oldest baits around. They were all incredibly effective at catching fish in The Mighty Ogeechee. Sadly, those ways of old have all but vanished.
We spent countless hours in those paddle boats. One man fished for an hour and a half while the other man paddled, then we would swap places. We caught fish and told many tales while doing so. All of my old fishing partners have departed this earth and the boat paddling skills went with them.
I had an incredible run for many years with Mr. Hogarth and others, paddling through the waters of The Ogeechee, but those days are now only memories. I can still paddle a wooden boat; I just don’t know anybody else that can. Things inevitably change though; I’m still fishing the river with great regularity, so all is not lost.
We fish in aluminum boats with trolling motors these days, different, but still very effective. Mr.Hogarth’s son, Ralph, is my most consistent fishing partner these days. We fish and tell stories of his daddy and my heart is always full whether the cooler is or not. Mr.Hogarth always said the jackfish would be biting when the leaves start falling down…….
