Mr. and Mrs. Kraus Blog

Oh boy. Why must there always be a catch? There always is… My two readers know that I have been writing a lot about my beginning experiences with fly fishing. I post pictures of the small fish that I catch, and I’ve always got a big grin on my face no matter how little they are. It’s Memorial Day weekend, so Saturday my brother and I headed to the lake for a couple hours of fishing. I used my fly rod, and he used the conventional spinning reel. Everything was going fine, and we were enjoying the peaceful serenity of the lake, when suddenly I heard my brother yell, “YOU DIDN’T TELL ME ABOUT THE SNAKES!!!”

A very aggressive black snake came out of the weeds at the waters edge and darted at him and then sped across his feet and back into the water. I am SO glad it did NOT bite him. What if it was one of these?

A water moccasin. Venomous. Aggressive. Will approach “intruders”. Crap.

I hate snakes. I’m going back to the lake, but I’ll be sporting blue jeans instead of shorts, and I’m going to Bass Pro Shop to buy a knife. I talked to an avid fisherman today who is dating my wife’s cousin, and he said to always have a knife on you.

“Why?” I asked.

He said, “You have to make sure you can kill the snake if it bites you, because you have to take it with you to the emergency room so they know which kind of anti-venom to give you.”

Wow. I have a new-found respect for Florida fisherman. They risk getting bit by snakes of all kinds, sharks, and whatever else is out there, just to experience the joy of their hobby. A couple days ago I just noticed a brown recluse spider crawling close to my foot while I was out fishing. I have been bit by one before. That’s not fun, but it’s a story for another time. I’m not even going to post a picture of one of those wounds because you might lose your lunch. I’ll leave it up to you to search for it if you really want to see it.

Back to the conversation with this avid fisherman though. He started telling me about his experiences fishing on his boat. He had stories about sharks, they all do. That should tell you something. But he also had a snake story. He told me about a sea snake that came at his boat and TRIED TO GET IN TO BITE HIM. He had to beat it down with an OAR! Wow that is straight out of a bad dream. I’m getting a knife.

Oh by the way, remember those other reptiles in Florida that live on the water?

I’m getting a knife.

Comments from old site:

Written by Chad Kraus
Posted: Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 3:56 PM

HAHA! I remember that knife. That was a BIG knife!

Written by Chris
Posted: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 3:49 PM

Hey Chad, I think it was you who asked me what kind of knife to get. I assked what are you using it for and you said fighting crocodile. At the time I said a bowie knife, but now that I think about it… do you remember that knife pic I showed you the last time you were looking for a knife? If not, I think I still have it on my computer somewhere.

Written by Lisa P
Posted: Tuesday, June 5, 2007 at 6:37 PM

Hey Chad! It was great to see you guys this weekend. Aaron happened to show me this website when we were comparing laptops at the hotel. Think I’ll add it to my “favorites”! We have a cute website for Nathan - next time we’re on skype I’ll give you the address.

Written by Aaron
Posted: Monday, May 28, 2007 at 8:02 AM

Whoa, can’t wait to see what kind of knife you get. Just don’t bring it to the airport on Thursday. And if you feel unsafe without it, I’ve got plenty of knives you can carry with you while you’re here

Chad Kraus bro, fishing, Florida, holidays

By no means am I a good fisherman. I have been going fly fishing when I get the time, and I have a long way to go before I know what I’m doing. But I am having a blast! I go down to the lake in Fellowship Park next to my church before sunset because that seems to be the time when the fish start biting. When the bugs start swarming, the birds start making a unified squawking noise, and the sun starts to set, is when the fish start biting.

I have gone fishing twice in the past few days. Mrs. Kraus and I went out with Captain Jeff on Sunday evening. We caught lots of brim, and one small bass. The bass was a lot of fun to catch because it jumped about five times. Mrs. K was fishing with a standard rod and reel and she got a huge bite from a large bass. She shouted, “Oh my gosh!” as an impressive bass jumped out of the water and through the air. It was so big, and fought so hard that it ruined her reel! (Crappy Big Lots reel). Unfortunately, it got away.

I went out alone today after work. I caught 2 fish! One small bass, and one brim. The bass was great fun because, surprise surprise, it jumped. I don’t know why I love that so much, but I really do. It’s especially great with fly fishing because sometimes they jump out of the water to get the fly off the water’s surface. I was proud of myself today because I made some tough casts to get the fly in the right spot to catch those fish. It was crazy windy today, so it gave me a sense of accomplishment. Oh, I really shouldn’t brag though because no tree was safe. I definitely caught more trees and plants than I did fish today.

My evening ended right before dark when I had cast past some weeds and started to pop my fly every few seconds. After 2 pops, WHAM! A huge bass jumped out of the water and tore my fly right off the line. It wasn’t even on the line for a second. It just tore it right off. That initially ticked me off, but what followed was very thrilling. The bass continued to jump out of the water, three times! And it was HUGE. I wouldn’t say it was as large as Lorrie’s fish a couple weeks ago, but definitely impressive. I think it was ticked off because the hook was probably lodged in the side of it’s mouth. That’s the only reason I could figure it would keep jumping. Maybe next time it will let me catch it so I can snap a picture and take that hook out of it’s lip!

The wife and I are thinking about going out to the lake tomorrow after work to kick off Memorial Day Weekend. We will be making a trip to Bass Pro Shop soon too to get her a new reel. I also need to buy some more flies, because those trees I keep catching like to swallow them! At least the fish usually give them back.

Chad Kraus Captain Jeff, fishing, Florida, Mrs. Kraus

Recently I became interested in a new sport: fly fishing. I was reading a book by John Eldredge called “The Way of the Wild Heart” and he told a story about fly fishing. That’s all it took to peak my curiosity. I started reading about it online and eventually sent an email to a guy my age who had attended my bible study group a few months back, Captain Jeff, a professional fisherman. Jeff was excited about my interest in the sport and offered to teach me the basics. Last Saturday afternoon we met at a park with a good fishing lake. He taught me how to cast, and I must say it was very cool. It’s like cracking a whip back and forth and then trying to nail a target with it. I really enjoyed it and we even caught some fish.

One of the fish we caught was a large mouth bass. I really like how they fight and jump out of the water as you pull them in. My brother and I used to catch one every now and then out at the lake during the summer. I remember my cousin Andrew catching a pretty nice small mouth as well. We always fished with a typical rod, reel, hook and sinker. Our bait was the good old earth worms we hunted for with flash lights the night before.

Now with the fly rod, it had a very different feel. It almost felt more like hunting. Scan the lake for activity; a fish jumping or popping, a group of frantic minoes, or some movement by some weeds. Then you try to put your fly right in the perfect spot. Once you do that you pull a little line in and stop. Wait a second. Then pull some in and stop. I was amazed how natural it looked, like a water bug dancing on the top of the water. And then… WHAM! A large mouth bass hammers it, but misses. Whoa! That was great! And then, WHAM! Another one from the other side. This second fish isn’t so lucky, as it is hooked and caught. Of course Jeff released it back to the lake, but I kind of had to appreciate that.

After that experience, I thought about it a few days and decided to get myself a pole. Jeff offered to help me pick one out. So yesterday we went to the Bass Pro Shop and I got myself a nice Temple Fork combo: pole, reel and fly line. I am really excited to go back to the lake this weekend and see how it goes. Here’s hoping to the start of a new lifelong hobby, and perhaps the start of a new friendship. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures of fish to post on here soon.

Chad Kraus Captain Jeff, fishing