I spent Memorial weekend with various members of my family at the Little Bend Bait Shop on the Oahe Reservoir 25 miles north of Pierre, S.D.The Oahe Reservoir was formed when the Missouri River was dammed in the 50's to help with flood control for some of the downstream states, such as Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois, where the Missouri River joins the Mississippi. Lake Oahe is the largest reservoir created by an earthen rolled dam in the world. There is little industry besides fishing on the Missouri River north of Sioux City, IA, so that the water is unpolluted and is an eco-system that supports many species of fish and other wildlife. My wildlife tally for this weekend includes turkeys, pheasants, a litter of kittens, longhorn cattle, regular cows, a prairie dog, gophers, buzzards, hawks, deer, a beaver, wild horses, fish of many species and two different snakes. Plus the sounds of what had to be dozens of coyotes.The lake is nearly 250 miles long, has approximately 2,500 miles of shoreline and is deeper than 200 feet in places.The Little Bend Bait Shop, where I spent my mini-vacation, is located at the top of a big hill overlooking the area where the lake meets with the mouth of the Cheyenne River and offers spectacular views of the region’s pristine landscape.The bait shop is owned by my grandfather, respectfully called Grandpa Stumpy, and is operated by my mother’s only sibling, Rocky Alexander. Of course, he is helped by a menagerie of generous family members, including his wife and sons, the youngest of whom is pictured at left with a northern pike he caught on Memorial Day morning.My family’s vacation trailer sits with about 15 others along the cliffs that overlook the river and is my father’s idea of the perfect place on earth.Within the walls of my grandfather’s bait shop, fishing stories are big business. You need to have hundreds of them and swear that every one is true. After spending three days in and around the bait shop, I feel compelled to share my new fishing story, and unfortunately it involves a RATTLESNAKE.After five hours on the water with my husband, older brother and father, we decided to beach the boat on the bank of a 50-foot hill to let my brother’s dog out for a run.I got out, eager to relieve myself and do some quick rock and fossil hunting.As I went to find a private area, I was scanning the ground for jade, rose quartz, bone or any other cool piece of history when my eyes scanned across a very large, GIANT, brown snake.I pulled the scream-and-run-away bit, because I was terrified. I knew I was in rattlesnake country and wanted nothing to do with that brown serpent. I wanted back in the boat where I would be safe.My older brother came over to confirm the sighting and decided the best action in this situation would be to throw a rock at the snake, just to make sure it was a rattler.Sure enough, after the rock was thrown and made contact, the slithering monster hissed, rattled and tried to strike. At that point my brother left it alone because he needed to keep his beloved dog out of harm’s way.Not even a minute later, my husband, who had missed most of the snake-related events because he was hiking up the hill, spotted a snake leaving shore and swimming across the bay.Indeed, it was the same snake I had seen. It was swimming for safety. I must admit that as scary as snakes are, they are pretty dumb. The water was just over 50 degrees and the air was colder than that, so I think within 20 feet the serpent was regretting its decision to flee via the water and was attempting to return to shore.Being terrified of snakes, I didn’t like this situation and was still encouraging my fellow fisherman to return to the boat and leave unharmed. Of course, men, especially fishermen, don’t like to listen to scared women so they watched as the snake got closer to shore.Suddenly my father got the brilliant idea to throw rocks at the rattler to keep it from approaching us or his boat.After the men in my life had hurled a dozen or so rocks, the snake resembled Ka from Disney’s The Jungle Book movie. His body was bent out of place and he wasn’t moving.Feeling triumphant, everyone boarded the boat and headed out of the bay. As we glided past the snake’s body, it suddenly snapped back to life, a stiff head followed us as we went by and then it was gone. It disappeared under the water about a foot off shore —never to be seen again, except in my dreams.We continued on our fishing journey and ended up catching the biggest walleye in the lake.Returning to nature for awhile can add years to one’s life; fighting snakes and watching wild animals frolic cannot be experienced at a zoo. The land surrounding the Oahe Reservoir looks untouched by man; it is nature in a very pure sense. Thank goodness, rattlesnakes like it there and not in Minnesota.Story ideas or comments can be emailed to Lexi Moore at lexim@star-herald.com or called in at 962-3561.