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On one
of my trips to Caddo Lake, I was fishing over in big green
breaks. I was easing along with my trolling motor, casting
for bass when I saw this blaze on a cypress tree. That??™s
strange I thought, why would anyone blaze a tree out here in
the middle of the lake?
I was
catching a bass every now and then as I moved down this tree
line so, I kept right on going. The trees were very thick
along there and it didn??™t seem like you could get a boat
into them. As I fished along, that blaze kept coming back to
haunt me.
So I
turned back and went to the tree with the blaze on it. As I
pulled my boat up to it, I could see that there was room for
my boat to go between that tree and the one next to it. I
motored through the opening and realized that there was a
winding trail through the trees.
A
couple of boat lengths down this trail, there was another
tree with a blaze on it. The surface of the water was
covered solid with duck weed so I couldn??™t fish in here. As
I moved deeper into the trees, the trees opened up so the
only way I had of following the trail was the blazed trees.
Once I
looked behind me and noticed the duck weed would close up
behind the boat like it had never been disturbed. I couldn??™t
see the blazes on the trees from this side either. This gave
me an uneasy feeling, because I wondered if I could find my
way back out of here.
After
following this trail for about a hundred yards I could see
some kind of structure ahead. As I got closer I could see
that it was a duck blind. It was covered with green
undertakers carpet and it sat on the edge of a small opening
in the trees. That opening was about fifty yards long and
thirty yards wide with a thick stand of cypress trees all
around it.
When I
got to the duck blind, I trolled right into the boat tunnel.
It was wide enough for two boats. On one side was a ladder
going up into the blind. I tied my boat to the ladder and
climbed up into the blind. When I stepped off the ladder I
saw that it went on up into a third level of the blind.
The
room I had stopped in was about ten by twelve feet. The
light was dim because there were no windows, but I could see
a table and six kitchen chairs in the middle of the room. In
one back corner was a kerosene stove and next to it was a
large cabinet. The cabinet had a lock on it. I figured it
probably had a coffee pot and cooking utensils in it.
I
climbed on up the ladder to the third level of the blind.
When I stepped off the ladder this time, I saw that the wall
on the side of the opening in the trees, was open from the
roof to waist high. Behind that wall were six swiveling bar
stools where the duck hunters could sit while they waited
for the ducks to fly in. Below the lip of the opening was a
small shelf about six inches wide. I figured it was for the
hunters to set a box of shells on, or maybe a cup of coffee.
As I
looked out into the open water I could imagine a spread of
decoys down there and the hunters sitting here with their
shotguns in their hands, waiting for that first flight of
ducks early in the morning. I could almost feel their
anticipation.
?
I
climbed back down to my boat and put my trolling motor down
and backed out of the boat tunnel. Then I trolled out into
the opening and started around the inside of the trees. I
had started fishing again and I caught several nice bass. It
was as if no one had ever fished in here before.
When I
got ready to leave, I went out be the duck blind and back
the way I came. Not being able to see the blazes on the
trees, I lost my way a couple of times, but I eventually
found my way out of the trees. I cranked up the big motor
and went back to Tucker??™s Camp, where I was staying.
Over
the years I went back into that little pocket of open water
and I caught fish each time I fished it. But I never went
near it during duck season. During duck season I would fish
??¦ but that??™s a whole ???nother story for a different time.
*****
?© copyright 2004
Loren Moore
? ? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May you be blessed today
Bob Johnston
Editor / Publisher
To read archived stories, click on this link:?
http://archives.zinester.com/9516/2004?
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