Bodie’s Winter Wading Adventure – Part I

Bodie’s Winter Wading Adventure – Part I
"I'm telling you Bodie the bag was right there in the back of the boat. I know it was there because I put it there myself before we took her off the sling. I put it in the boat just like you told me to." Tommy was pouting and trying to sound convincing because Bodie wasn't in a very good mood.

"That bag didn't just grow legs and jump out of the boat Tommy, all my wading gear is in there, and more especially my waders are in there. Just what do you think I should do for waders out here?" asked Bodie.

Tommy almost said something that he'd never live down but instead he said something even more stupid; "You can wear my extra waders, Bodie!"

Bodie Allen looked at Tommy and thought that even though he was much taller, the waders would certainly be big enough around. He decided to give it a try rather than stay in the boat to drift the area or make the 45 minute run back to the boat house. "And what will I use for wading boots Tommydeck shoes?" he asked.

"No worries there Bodie, my extra waders have the boot on them so you don't need to worry about your old wading boots, mine are built right in!" said Tommy, obviously happy that Bodie was at least entertaining the idea.

Bodie took the offered waders from his friend and slipped one leg inside. "What in the name of all things Holy"Bodie exclaimed falling backward trying to get his leg out.

A small field rat ran out of the waders, across the deck and vanished under Bodie's center console. "Find that rat Tommy! If that thing gets in there and starts eating wiring it ain't going to be much fun out here!"

Tommy scrambled for the console and in the dim light tried to find a field rat amongst all the wires and other stuff that Bodie had stored under there. "Do you have any cheese Bodie?" Tommy asked?

As soon as he asked the question Tommy wanted to find some place to hide but Bodie didn't say a word, he just took the waders and holding them over the side of the boat, turned them inside out and shook them to make sure there were no more varmints.

"Where in the world do you keep those waders that a field rat would get inside?" Bodie asked.

"I keep them in the shed by the boat house hanging in a set of those wader hangers I bought from FTU; best invention since waders if you ask me." Tommy exclaimed.

"Well if you have them hanging up in the wader hangers how could a field rat crawl inside and build a dang nest in the boot?" Bodie asked.

"Well, I guess that he just jumped in, crawled down and found a nice warm spot in the boot; I can imagine it's nice and warm in there; those are insulated waders you know," Tommy said with pride.

"Tommy, you're supposed to hang the waders upside-down; the boots slide into those handy dandy grooves and that way any water that might have gotten inside drains out." Bodie snickered.

"Oh well, maybe I should have read the instructions or something, but they work okay like I have them and field rats don't bother me." Tommy said defiantly. "And besides Bodie, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't even have waders to put on this morning."

Bodie ignored the comment, and after having shaken all the grass, cotton, rat poop, and a piece of a leather glove out of the waders he once again tried to put them on. The pants part was OK but the boots were pretty tight. Bodie had to scrunch his toes to get his foot inside. Tommy wears a size 10 shoe and Bodie a size 13. "I don't know if I can wade in these short boots of yours." Bodie said.

"Well just wrinkle your toes up and you'll be okay Bodie, but we need to sort of hurry up cause I see some bait moving off of the point there." Tommy offered bravely.

Bodie pulled the waders up to the maximum height; about 4 inches above his belly button. "Looks like I'll be wading a might shallow this morning." Bodie said aloud to himself. He was trying to let out as much suspender slack as he could when the plastic buckle broke off in his hand. Improvising, he wrapped the suspenders around his waste and tied them off, much like a preppy will do his letter sweater.

Satisfied that he could maneuver okay, Bodie slipped into the water and started wading towards some nervous water. The water pressure on his toes started to get a little tight and he thought that he might get just a little fishing time in before his feet cramped up and he had to get back to the boat.

Bodie watched Tommy moving away from him down-current fishing with the outgoing tide. Bodie cast towards a pod of mullet that were angling towards a drop-off and he let his favorite Corky sit after it splashed into the water. The slow sinking lure was thumped hard by something and Bodie said to himself, "That was no mullet bumping into my plug." Then whatever had thumped it decided it needed to kill it and Bodie set the hook!

The fish pulled hard, running with the tide and heading to deeper water. Bodie looked down at the line on his 50MG Shimano and tried to remember how many yards of 12# line he had on it. "Redfish," Bodie muttered aloud as the fish continued to pull line from the small reel. Bodie waded towards the fish trying to get line back but finally had to tighten the drag down in hopes of turning it.