Delayed Fishing Report 3: Exploring My Cousin’s “Monster Catch” River – A Disappointing Haul

Okay, let’s get this out first: this is my third delayed fishing report, but hey-at least it’s not as late as the first two! We’re actually wrapping this up in the same month the trip happened. Win? Maybe. Let’s dive in.

The Invite That Hooked Us (Literally)

Weekends are sacred for fishermen, right? Well, my cousin texted me bright and early one Saturday like, “Bro, I found a new spot-fish are going crazy! Total monster catch vibes!” Now, let’s be real: I’ve heard this line from him a dozen times. Last time he swore a lake had 10lb bass… I caught a minnow. So my “excitement” meter was at like 20%. But then he dropped the bomb: “Mushrooms are everywhere up there too-whole family can come. Fish in the morning, pick shrooms in the afternoon.”

My wife? She’s been begging to go mushroom picking since last spring-only went once this year. My mom, in-laws? All on board. So even though I knew his “monster catch” claims were suspect, I caved. Next morning, we loaded up the truck: rods, coolers, mushroom baskets, the works. Full car of chaos-laughing, arguing over who brought the best snacks. Good times.

Now, my cousin’s a mushroom whiz (turns out he’s better at that than fishing). He wanted to fish with me, but we dragged him mushroom hunting first-wifey’s orders. So he called his buddy Zhang, who was already at that “monster river” spot, casting away. We hit the road, followed the river, and met Zhang by the water.

The River Spot: What It Looked Like (And Why It Seemed Promising)

That spot? It was a river meander near a bridge-slow current, lots of debris sinking to the bottom. Perfect fish hangout, right? Zhang was there, shivering a little (we didn’t know the temp was gonna drop hard). He said, “Last time I was here with your cousin? Total monster catch-we left with a cooler full. But today? Wind’s brutal, temp dropped 10 degrees overnight. Can’t keep the float steady. Only 6-7 small silverfish in two hours.”

Oh great. But we’re fishermen-“disappointing start” just means “we’ll prove the fish wrong.” My father-in-law and I set up in the deep water spot. I grabbed my 6.3m rod, 2g float, 2.0 main line, 1.0 leader, size 6 hook. Tried to set the float to 2 eyes, fished 2-4 eyes. Dumped a few handfuls of bait, mixed up my dough bait, and got to work.

Father-in-law? He’s old-school-worm bait, running sinker (since the wind was making the float dance like crazy). I started with big dough on top hook, small on bottom, casting every 2 minutes. After 20 minutes, switched to small dough on both. Then… 30 minutes later! Float slowly lifted-strike!

First Catch (Spoiler: It Was Tiny)

I yank the rod-tiny silverfish flips out of the water. Smaller than a minnow. But hey-first catch of the day! Can’t skip that. Then 10 minutes later: float taps, taps, taps. I strike-wait, this feels heavier! Maybe a nice perch? Or a bigger silverfish? Nope. Pull it up, and it’s the same tiny silverfish… but hooked in the side (hanging upside down, basically). That’s why it felt heavy! Total fakeout. Ugh.

But here’s the thing: if a fish is getting hooked accidentally, that means there are fish in the area, right? So I’m hyped. Cast again. Then-disaster. Current carried my hook into a pile of sticks. Hooked solid. No way to pull it free. So I had to “fight” the stick (aka pull hard to break the line). Leader snapped, main line got tangled into a ball of chaos. Took me 15 minutes to untangle it. My hands were freezing, I was muttering to myself. Not my best moment.

When The Bite Stopped (And The Wind Got Worse)

Swapped the hook, cast again. Two casts in a row-bite! Another tiny silverfish. Zhang saw me catching (even tiny ones) and said, “Your spot’s better! Can I join?” Sure, why not? But then… the bite died. Like, dead silent. We waited 20 minutes. Then both our floats dip at the same time! Strike! This one was a little bigger-maybe 3 inches longer. Progress? Barely.

Then the river started rising. Fast. 60cm higher in an hour. Our spot was now 10 meters from where we started. No bites. Wind got stronger-we were all shivering, even with jackets. Switched to a sheltered shallow spot. Nada. Zero. Zilch. Zhang said, “This is garbage. Let’s go.” My cousin called-he was done mushroom picking, said he knew a pond nearby. Let’s bounce.

The Pond: A “Old Favorite” That Let Us Down

We drove to a small mountain pond. I’d fished here 3 years ago-back then, tiny crucian carp were everywhere. Then the villagers drained it, cleaned it, refilled it. Now, only a few “escapees” left (we saw them jumping sometimes). When we got there, 3 locals were fishing-all with worm bait, running sinkers. Asked how they were doing: “Nothing. Zero.” Great.

I switched to my 5.4m rod, 1.78g float, 1.5 main line, 0.6 leader, size 5 hook. Fished near the reeds (fish love reeds!). Cousin used his 6.3m rod, 3g float, 3.0 main line, 2.0 leader, size 8 hook-fished near the pump house. Dumped bait, threw a little dough, started casting.

Waiting (And Waiting) For A Bite

The pond was calm-only the sound of cows bells from the road. Nice, but boring. 30 minutes: no bites. Father-in-law (fishing near the pump house) said, “My float moved twice! Then nothing. Look-worm’s half gone.” Oh, so fish were nibbling, but not biting. I swapped to worm bait-hoping that’d work. Nope.

An hour later: cousin’s float dipped 1 eye. Super slow. He waited for it to sink (black float = strike, right?). But it just floated back up. That was it. No more bites. Then my mother-in-law called-time to go back, make dinner. Father-in-law started packing up. Cousin and I cast 4-5 more times. Nothing. Sigh. Packed up. Total bummer.

The Silver Lining (Spoiler: It’s Mushrooms)

We got back to cousin’s house, and-WHOA. His family had buckets and buckets of mushrooms. Mostly red ones (the good kind, not the poisonous ones). Everyone was gushing: “Wow, that’s a haul!” My in-laws, mom, wife-all grinning from ear to ear. I dumped our fish (like 5 tiny silverfish) into the duck pond. The ducks went crazy, but the adults laughed: “You guys fished all day for that? Worth the gas money?”

Then my wife said-get this-“You guys don’t get it. They had fun. Sometimes they leave at 5am, come back at midnight, catch nothing. It’s about the time, not the fish.” I turned to her like, “Wait-you’re defending me?!” Normally she’s like, “You spend too much on rods!” But today? She had my back. I knew right then: I’m washing all the dishes tonight. No questions asked.

Final Thoughts (No, Not A “Lesson” – Just Real Talk)

So yeah, the fishing was garbage. But the day? Not bad. Mushrooms were amazing, family time was fun, even the duck show at the end was a laugh. Is my cousin’s “monster catch” spot a bust? Maybe for that day-temp dropped, wind was brutal, river rose. Fishing’s like that, right? Some days you hit it big, some days you catch nothing but a tangled line and a bad mood. But hey-at least we didn’t go home empty-handed (thanks, mushrooms).

Next time? I’m gonna make sure to check the weather first. And maybe stop trusting my cousin’s “monster catch” claims without a little proof. But hey-who knows? Next month’s trip might be the one. Fingers crossed. Oh, and if you’re into mushroom picking? Hit me up-I know a guy (my cousin) who’s actually good at that.