A few words about the madness.
Being able to sit this one out, as I am able to fish during the week, turned out to be a great decision. After perusing lots of fishing web sites from all over the country, and especially our Texas sites, it was simply madness out there.
There were reports of multiple groundings, confrontations, sinkings, and even a hit and run. Drunk boaters, stupid ramp stories, and just plain crazy, seemed to dominate the comments from this weekend. The water is becoming more and more crowded every day, and anyone with a big enough checkbook can buy a boat. Unfortunately, the size of one’s checkbook does not always directly correlate to the size of their brain.
So what are we to do? I am the last guy to tell anyone what to do, but since I am not shy about expressing my opinion, here goes.
First, a simple confrontation can go from yelling to murder in the blink of an eye. How do do I know? When you have been a criminal defense attorney for years you see it all. Believe me folks, it happens. Do not let this happen to you. It is not worth it. This is our passion, and sometimes we are to passionate. So take the high road if you can, there is always tomorrow, and I for one plan on fishing tomorrow, not spending it in the hospital, or worse, under arrest. Remember, you can not fix stupid, even confronting it head on.
Second, take the time to educate folks. Many people do what we feel are stupid things, but it may be a simple lack of knowledge. We constantly fish and know the unwritten rules, so take some time to share them. I know when some idiot is cutting you off, or hassling you may not be the time, but do what you can, when you can.
And last, as I have often said, be nice. Nothing gets under an idiot’s skin, who wants to make a mountain out of a molehill, like someone being nice and not playing along. It takes 2 hassle, and if someone wants to hassle with themselves, let them. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, a good rule.
I know this is simplistic, but we have to start somewhere. If we don’t, no none will.
This Week.
So having stayed at home the last 4 days, I am ready to hit the water. The yard is taken care of, the house is pressure washed, and lots of small honey-do things are out of the way. It looks like the wind may die just a little the next day or two, so it will be off to the bay. And I definitely plan on making a return trip to Coleto, not only for the buzzbait fishing, but to work on a few things I am trying to get better at.
And another thing I will be doing this week is getting the last few things done in preparation for Canada. There is a second spare to get mounted, tackle to go through, rod and reels to go over, piles to make, and all the rest of it. One of the great joys for me, as I often say, is in the doing. The planning, the map reading, and all the rest that go with it, make up a fun part one of any trip.
I will be taking the laptop and plan on blogging with at least a few pictures everyday. Whether or not I will be able to download any videos is up in the air. But there will be video, lots of it, and I can not wait to get with it. We leave Thursday the 7th, and of course I will be ready to go about the 3rd. I feel like a kid at Christmas!
So keep those comments coming. I appreciate everyone of you who reads my stuff. If you get a chance, forward my site to someone you know who fishes. There are changes coming to the site, and with a few great things in the works, those changes are right around the corner. So stay tuned.
Cool Site.
If you get a chance, stop in at 4reelfishing. It is a cool site where folks post all kinds of videos and photographs. There is every kind of fish, from every kind of place, and if you can not get enough fishing, give them a try.
http://4reelfishing.com/videos/
Good Luck and Tight Lines.
