The Great Outdoors: Old and Cold
By Larry Whiteley
February has always been cold where I live in Missouri. I have lived there all my life. But, to me, it seems the older I get, the colder I get.
That is a problem when you love crappie fishing as much as I do. When I was younger, the cold didn’t seem to bother me as much as it does now. I always went crappie fishing in February.
I didn’t wear all the warm clothing I do now. I was young and tough. I would spit into the wind at the cold or relieve myself off the back of the boat. It might freeze in mid-air, but that did not stop me. I was a winter crappie fisherman.
I have always enjoyed reading stories and watching movies about mountain men. I have watched the movie “Jeremiah Johnson” more times than I can count. My wife shakes her head and rolls her eyes when she sees me watching it again.
He lived and survived in the winter mountains of America’s West. I always thought that if he could do that, I could handle the February cold to go out and catch a limit of crappie.
I also used to think I wanted to live in Alaska until I found out there are no crappie in Alaska waters. Salmon are sure good to eat, but I love my crappie.
Back then, whenever we found shad, we also found crappie like you still can today. We did not have things like LiveScope. We would slow troll and always limit out. To me, crappie from cold water are firmer and always seems to taste better.
Now that I am older, it is much harder for me to go crappie fishing in the cold of February. I think my skin is thinner now, and so is my blood flow. I am an old, skinny guy and don’t have much body fat to help keep me warm.
I still go sometimes, but not nearly as much as I used to. I go wearing insulated boots. On my feet are heated socks. Thermal underwear is next to my old, wrinkled body, with insulated coveralls over them. Battery-operated heated gloves keep my hands warm.
A fur-lined trapper’s hat, like the one Jeremiah Johnson wore, covers my head and ears. An insulated face mask covers my nose and mouth. Did I mention the small propane heater in the boat and the rechargeable hand warmers I keep in my pockets?
When my son or a younger man from church goes with me, they always laugh at me. They say I look like a zombie or something, moving around in the boat or walking down the boat ramp.
They can do that as much as they want. I don’t care as long as I am warm and not freezing. It is hard to catch crappie if your fishing rod is shaking too much, or you are moving around in the boat trying to stay warm.
Like Mark Twain once said, “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” I feel blessed that I can still go crappie fishing in February. I am old, and I do not like being cold.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“I was just thinking, if it is really religion with these nudist colonies, they sure must turn atheists in the wintertime.”
-Will Rogers
