STALKING THE WILY POTOMAC CARP:

As soon as I heard the elevator hit the landing below, I heard footsteps from the direction we'd just left. It was the President, in monogrammed, sky blue pajamas and fleece-lined leather slippers, and he had in hand a sheaf of papers that he was waving. He was hollering for the just-departed butler and issuing instructions on what to do with the papers, which for all I know may have been orders to bomb Moscow.

But when he came around the corner all he saw was a middle-aged sportswriter in a Batman baseball cap, the only one I could find that didn't have some logo on it. I spread my arms in a classic pose that said: "I am unarmed. I mean you no harm."

But if he was the least concerned, he didn't show it. I guess presidents see a lot of unexpected things, because he sized me up instantly as someone who couldn't do whatever it was that needed to be done with those papers, and he turned on his heel, still waving them overhead. As he strode back to his bedroom, he declared: "Big fish to catch today. Big fish!"

The butler soon reappeared, saying coffee was ready downstairs at the South Entrance. There were lots of Secret Service people there, and about 10 minutes later the President appeared, tackle box and rods in hand. He greeted me as if nothing had happened, which of course, it hadn't.

We had a great day fishing.

The president caught several largemouth bass on rubber worms. Late in the day, he hooked one with some weight to it, but when he got it to the surface it turned out to be a big, slimy carp. Glenn Peacock, our guide, tried to cut the line with his pocket knife. He didn't want the world to see a professional bass guide landing a carp for the President.

But Bush wouldn't hear of it and landed the fish with great fanfare. "I haven't seen either of you catch anything this big," he said, holding it high, and from that point on crowed about his great success outfoxing "the wily Potomac carp."

Tweet   @brothersjudd