When the fish are biting, the hardest thing is to pack it in and go home. If they bit 24/7, no telling how many boats would be floating on the lake with the bleached skeletons of fishermen inside.

At the very least, a good fishing day can make procrastinators out of the most punctual among us. That scene plays out every day the fishing is good. It was no different last Thursday when Jon Stein and I headed out on Beaver Lake armed with a handful of jigging spoons and an optimistic attitude.

We caught fish right off the bat, as mentioned in today's feature about our trip. Neither of us wanted to quit.

I'd told Jon that this jigging-spoon fishing is a morning thing. We'd be done by 9. That fit his schedule and would let him keep a doctor's appointment later in the morning.

Nine o'clock flew by and the fish kept biting. Around 9:30 we scored our second double, with each of us catching a fish at the same time. Jon is our area's fisheries biologist with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. When a fisheries biologist is impressed, you know the fishing is good.

Jon tossed a sizeable white bass into the livewell, then whipped out his cellphone. He held his fishing rod in one hand and dialed the doctor's office with the other.

"Yes, this is Jon Stein. I've got an appointment this morning. Do you have anything for later this afternoon?"

The answer was yes, so we kept fishing. I mentioned to Jon that, heck, we could quit if he needed to keep his appointment.

"It's no big deal," he said. "It was just a follow-up appointment I had. No big thing." We kept at it until the fishing shut down at midmorning.

Appointments get changed and desks sit empty in offices and classrooms when the fish are on. At least one desk at NorthWest Arkansas Community College was vacant during a trip on Beaver Lake several years ago.

We were doing an Outdoors feature about Kazuki Kitajima, a fine young man who moved from his native Japan to Northwest Arkansas so he could go to college while pursuing his dream of becoming a professional bass fishermen.

Kazuki and I agreed to meet at 6 a.m. at Beaver Lake so we could chat, and I could get some photos of him in action. The arrangement was fine with Kazuki, but he was firm in his statement that we had to be off the water by 9 so he could make his 10:30 class at NWACC.

We set out in Kazuki's boat before sunrise. By 8 a.m., I had a camera full of photos of the the smiling college student catching a bevy of fine Beaver Lake largemouth bass. We were having a big time on a fine spring morning catching bass after bass in the Rambo arm of the lake.

Kazuki sported a big watch on his wrist. He was well aware of the time. I had to speak up.

"Kazuki, it's after 9. Don't you think we ought to get back so you can make your class?"

"It's OK," Kazuki said. "I can be late."

The bass kept biting and the clock kept ticking. I mentioned to Kazuki that is was after 10.

"I'm really caught up," he said. "I don't really need to go to class today." We fished until noon.

That may have been the only time Kazuki played hooky because of fishing. He did well in school, and graduated from the University of Arkansas a few years later.

Oh, those fish can cast a powerful spell.

Outdoors on 08/21/2014