. . . or, All Hail the Mighty Fisherman
August 24, 2018
Water Temp a steady 70 F, Air Temp 69 – 76 F
Joe Writes . . .
I finally caught a fish on the Grand. Most trips I’ll make a few perfunctory casts but our trip is all about paddling forward, while fishing requires that one not be in a hurry to get from one spot to another. My brother never cared much about fishing – even when we were kids – so there’s that, too. I start casting and he starts drumming his fingers on the 
Billie V’s gunwales and humming impatiently.
On this trip I had resumed my rightful place, as the strongest paddler, in the stern seat. I saw the resulting after-splash of a leaping fish, starboard and ahead of Tom’s subservient seat in the bow. My fishing pole – in its pink, floatable carrying case – lay at my feet.
“Thar she blows! Hold ‘er steady,” says I, quickly and quietly unsheathing my Zebco harpoon. One perfect cast and – wham! – the Leviathan hit my spinner like a rogue gator introducing itself to a curious Shih Tzu.
Pictures don’t lie.
Other thoughts: the river at our put-in spot for this leg of our journey – the Ionia Fairgrounds – is rather dismal. City Mothers and Fathers would do well to haul away the dead trees that line the riverbank, providing first-time visitors with an uncaring greeting to their otherwise-attractive city. And we like Ionia; indeed we do.
We didn’t see a heron, our spirit guide, until we were four miles into our 10-mile paddle. That is most unusual and I was beginning to worry, thinking perhaps this stretch of river was cursed. Herons are usually sighted early and often, leading us down the river.
I love that Saranac has a sign geared towards paddlers on its bridge spanning the Grand. Makes a guy want to stop and spend some money . . . other river towns might take heed.
Joe (l) and Tom (r): two handsome River Rogues on the Road to Saranac
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I always take the river’s side; Industry and Big Agriculture have plenty of friends already. Thank you for visiting our blog, please share it with a friend. You may contact us by leaving a comment here or via email: joe@lenthofthegrand.com (Joe Neely) or tom@lengthofthegrand.com (Tom Neely).
We would love to have you join us on the river, but it’s BYOC.
lengthofthegrand.com 
Sorry…😂😂😂 about the fish. I am sure that it was bigger than what it appeared in the picture.
I do think that towns that welcome paddlers from the bridges are well worth shopping.
Yes, Tom is not a very good photographer and he must have made some last-second lens adjustment that made the fish appear to be much smaller than it was. 🙂
Yaaaaa…right…. that must be it.😂
Congratulations on the catch! Love your stories! The imagery of a “rogue gator introducing itself to a curious Shih Tzu” is hilarious. I follow your adventures with great interest!