Once I approached the marina area, I started up the main motor and powered over to Bemus Bay, where I wanted to cast the silent community docks along several venues there. It was still dark, but there is calm and mystery in the silence of the morning night when you have a fishing rod in your hand. You can just sit, listen and find total relaxation in those moments of morning mystery.

My bait-casting reel was loaded with 12-pound braid, a short 20-pound fluorocarbon leader, and a modified pumpkin-pepper colored Senko worm on a 3/0 in-line circle hook placed mid-body beneath a layer of heat-shrink tubing. That rig set-up allows the plastic worm to be more resilient for a much longer time before being destroyed by the fish, and the circle hook puts the hook precisely in the corner of the mouth of each bass hooked. No damage to the fish. Because it was still dark, I rotated the hook point into the body just a bit to make it totally snag-proof.

Nothing I dislike more than hooking a dock in the dark.

As I contemplated that first cast, an eerie bird song rang out from across Bemus Bay near Tom’s Point. Unmistakable, it was a loon. They are occasional stopover migrants to Chautauqua Lake; their beautiful call carries a long way. I looked over that way and could feel my jaw shape change into a half-grin. Satisfaction from fishing without even the first cast. I thought for a moment about how much fun this was already. So happy I got out of bed to do this.

Bemus Bay bass are plentiful during weekday outings, with special flavor to early day fishing with snag-free plastic worm rigs. Photo by Forrest Fisher

As the sun poked upward in the next hour, I caught some fish; it was a peaceful experience, releasing them all. No record breakers, just one and two-pounders, all largemouth bass. In the middle of fishing, the best distractions of life can occur. I watched a Great Blue Heron stalking along the shallows between the docks. I saw wood ducks and colorful mallards making noise in the subtle little cove-like spots along the shore. High above, the first flight of Canada Geese was honking in V-shaped formations. On one tree, there was a small group of brightly colored American Goldfinch birds having a morning singing clutch. Not far away, there was a Sharp-Shinned Hawk to one side of the tree, and a Coopers Hawk on a tree not far away, the other way. All species have their ways in nature; they all struggle to survive each day, just like we people-folk, but they have no concern about import taxes and electric bills. I grinned again. It was so good to be here.

As the first rays of sunshine began to touch the high treetops at Lakeside Court Cottages at the Bemus Point Ferry Crossing, I powered up the big motor to move through the no-wake channel there, under the I-86 bridge, and back to the cabin. In the distance toward the south, I watched a pair of Bald Eagles circle, looking for their first morning morsel. On occasion, my family and I have observed Ospreys and Northern Harriers along the north shore of the south Chautauqua Lake basin.

Watching and listening to the birds of Chautauqua can be an unforgettable experience all by itself. Add fishing, silence, sunrise, and wow; what a morning. Growing up nearly eight decades ago, I never knew what bird songs went with what bird species. Today, however, there is the Merlin Bird ID app — a free mobile app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that helps users identify birds by description, song, or photo. It covers birds in North America and uses artificial intelligence and data from eBird to make all this happen. Whenever I hear a bird singing that I don’t know nowadays, I open the app and let it listen to the bird. It identifies the bird in a few seconds. This free education can add a new layer of enjoyment to outdoor adventure. If this is a missing link for you, the app can help make each of us feel more connected and knowledgeable about the natural world. We never stop learning. Happy to be American.

Gotta love the outdoors.

Outdoors Calendar

Sept. 10: 3D Archery, Evans Rod/Gun, 864 Cain Rd., Angola; 4 p.m.-dark, 15 target course, Kitchen open, Jerome Gorski, 716-398-3008. Ends Sept. 24.

Sept. 11: 3D Archery, West Falls Conservation, 55 Bridge St., West Falls, 4 p.m. start, 15 target hillside course. Kitchen open. Indoor/outdoor ranges. Mike Cummings, 716-652-4650. Ends Sept. 25.

Sept 13: WNY Walleye Association; 1st Responders/Veterans Day of Fishing, Lake Erie; Reserve your spot. Rick Malik: 716-548-8219 or Steve Haak: 716-225-0229.

Sept. 13-21: NYS special early antlerless deer season in designated WMUs. For DMP and DMAP tags only. See syllabus.

Sept. 14: 3D Archery, Bear Lake Rod & Gun, 30 targets, 8 a.m.-12 p.m., OPEN HOUSE – 10 a.m.-2 p.m., 4391 Cassadaga-Stockton Rd., Stockton, Info: Rudy Abersold, 716-397-9717.