First time in over 20 years ... I Pick up a Hitchhiker
So the other day I decided to hold off fishing Lake Simcoe's Cooks Bay until later in the afternoon. I wanted to see if the deepwater largemouth bite was better later in the day - because so far this September, it's been non existant. As I turned off Hwy 11 at Churchill, I saw a man walking along the road, who quickly decided to stick out his thumb when he saw me and my boat. Why, after at least 20 years of sadly passing by hitchikers, I instinctively pulled off the paved road onto the gravelly shoulder is beyond me. We've all become far more atune to the high risks of both hitchiking and picking up random hitchikers, but I did both quite frequently in my younger days- with a couple of fond memories to show for it. Maybe i stopped this time because he looked so determined to get somewhere and I felt that hitchiking was not his regular means of travel. Perhpas it was simply I was tired of not trusting my gut instincts ... who the heck knows the real reason why, but I unlocked the passenger side door and he gingerly climbed in.