Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/116174
been best described as "streaky." And more than once, usually after the frenzy of a hookup and line clearing off the deck, we both took moments of silence to soak it all in. I settled into the fight with a bent rod and singing reel, and Scott leaned back on his push-pole and grinned. We enjoyed an early thermos of coffee, a fine midday lunch and a couple of cold drinks on the ride home, all courtesy of Cabin Bluff's kitchen and their own Captain Toby Mohrman who saw us loose at the dock. When schools of fish looped away into the glare, Scott taught me to tilt my head (and sunglasses) left, altering the polarization such that dark fish-shaped S labeled coolers and bins, clean towels, bait and tackle stations were situated on the perimeter. A big roof provided shade and shelter. Three floating platforms accommodated small skiffs, bay boats, a big ferryboat and anything else up to about 100 feet that would want to tie up. But because my time at Cabin Bluff was much more about the moments than the chronology, let's back up to the lodge for a minute. A strutting gobbler and a massive alligator were among the old mounts permanently paused in the heartpine cavern. The dark wood walls were scattered with black-and-white images of past U. S. presidents and guests with stringers of trout, ladies in suits holding side-by-sides and gobblers. blobs became sharp redfish. And on the ride home up the Cumberland River, we shared stories of our respective journeys through the fishing industry as pine and oak islands sank to shadows and evening turned the wide green marsh gold. T he next morning and each additional sunrise at Cabin Bluff I left my happily sleeping (we have a 13-month-old at home) wife, grabbed a cup of coffee and walked 100 yards east out of the old main lodge to the dock. The dock was easily the most impressive that I'd seen, built from concrete and wood like a loading facility for container ships, but with a clear bias toward trout fishermen. Rod racks, P O R T I N G C 103 L A S S I C S