FISH CATCHING TRAVEL

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Catching Fish

Fishing is one of the most diverse sports in the world.  Bluegill, tarpon, carp, marlin, robalo, so many fish, places, and ways to catch them.  And with that come fishermen and the reasons we spend all this time and money on fish.  My favorite:  “I just love to catch fish”.  That can mean so many things.

On its face it would seem that sentiment simply means to catch a fish, any fish, but that would hardly be the case.  For some folks it is true, they just want to catch anything, anyway they can.  For others it is one particular species of fish, or only saltwater or fresh.  Every  fish or method can fit into that sentence, and the following one.

“First I just wanted to catch a fish.  Then I wanted to catch lots of fish, then I just wanted to catch big fish.  Now I just want to catch them the way I want to.”

No particular reason is better, if it make you happy then go for it.  For me it has become doing what I like, catching fish the way I want to.  And for me it is any species of fish.  Doing makes you happy on the water is the only requirement.  And if it causes you consternation or makes you unhappy you need to take a chill pill.  But I sympathize.  Back in my younger days tournament fishing and guiding, when I was “mad” at them, it used to upset me when I lost the big one, or struck out.  It has taken a lifetime to understand it is in the doing.  Taking the time to enjoy everything the outdoors can offer can turn a poor trip into a success.  But there is one thing that I see that often divides our sport when we should be constantly vigilant to potential threats.

Just because a guy likes to sit on the bank and catch carp does not make him any less a fisherman than the “pro’ in his bass boat.  Or at least not lets us think we are “better.”  Just because they do not own a Majek, Ranger, or SCB does not, and should not, be “held” against him.  To much of our sport is turning into a marketing contest with the implied diss that if you are not using this boat, wearing that hat or shirt, fishing this way or that, you are not worthy.  I have seen this all over the country, at ramps, tackle stores, and online.

I fully understand that I have participated in the marketing, at least keeping it to the things I use and like.  (I have not taken any money from the blog.)  But it does disturb me that some how it has come down to a mentality where the latest and greatest defines you as a fisherman.  Boats creeping into the $70k range, reels pushing $500, even baits that can cost over a $100.  Nice if you can afford it, but what about the guy who can’t?  I really hope that the direction of the sport does not dissuade younger folks from getting involved, or that is does not come down to a few rich kids.  All that stuff does not make you a fisherman, it makes you the guy with all that stuff.

So next time you brag on your day, or the all the cool stuff you have, remember the words of Jimmie Houston:

You know what the difference between me and God is?  God never thinks he is me!  (Think about it.)

As fishermen it is incumbent on us to spread the word and share the wealth.  To realize that the guy carp fishing is just as important a fisherman as we are, and maybe he is actually better.  Ever consider that?  His license fees provide the same support for our sport as ours.  For our protection we need to band together as one and keep in mind that an assault on one area of our sport is the beginning of encroachment on others.  My journey was a boy with a Zebco 202 on his bike riding 6 miles to catch a catfish in the river to a man catching marlin on the Great Barrier Reef.  I have never forgot my humble beginnings, and I worry that if it keeps going on this way some young kid just like me will give up.  I would hate to see that.

******************Fresh or salt it has a place in your arsenal.

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And It was good to hear from Terry, one of the Weatherford boys I met down at Falcon.

Great report, I am one of the Weatherford guys, we caught a bunch on Friday, 4-7 pounds. I have some info on Buchanan for you, send me an email.

Glad you got it going before the wind got there on Saturday.  Looks like the fishing is getting back to normal, now trying to figure out when I can go again.  LOL  And an email is on the way.

And speaking of Falcon one of the guys I met, the Kayak Doctor, had a good fish on Facebook from Friday, guess I should have stayed.  Good to hear from you and thanks for the comment.

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As I strapped on the self-inflating life jacket and snapped on the kill switch yesterday a random thought crossed my mind and it brought up a couple of related thoughts.  Bass fishing has been the leader in the wearing of life jackets.  It is common now to see bass guys with their PFDs on, not so common in the salt.  Even when I was tournament fishing in 70’s and 80’s wearing a jacket was a requirement, end of story.  There was even an incident in the Bass Cat owners tournament where the winners lost the boat as they forgot to put on their jackers while running.   It got me to wondering how long before a life is lost in a saltwater tournament while running and not wearing a life jacket.  I am sure there are legal reasons why bass tournaments starting requiring life jackets and kill switches, and if the unthinkable happens in a saltwater tournament some attorney will file a claim and we will find out what the court thinks.  Just a thought.

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And to go along with that it was a couple of years ago that my buddy Clyde and 2 friends were rounding a corner behind an island on Lake of the Woods when the steering came apart on an almost new Lund.  The boat made a hard left and nearly them out of the boat at 30mph.  (Slow on many of todays boats.)  Luckily Clyde was able to throttle back laying on the floor.  No life jackets, no kill switch, they were lucky the were not killed.  Then this story from last week.

The Boss works with a guy who while fishing the bay cut the corner into a cut when he bottomed out and both he and his girlfriend were literally thrown out.  Of course it scared the crap out of them.  Of course no life jacket or kill switch.  The boat then basically ran in a circle for over a 1/2 hour until if finally bored into the bottom and bogged out.  Someone could easily have been seriously hurt or killed.  Think about it, your boat running in circles trying to make you into deer sausage.  If that does not frighten you it should.  Folks it can, and does, happen in a second.  I had a p0ntoon on my head in a tornado and 2 life jackets saved my life.  Ray and John thrown out on Bull Shoals when it was below freezing and the water temp was 32.  Tthe guy I found next to his sunken boat on Norfork, the 2 I rescued as a medic 20 feet up a bank on Bull Shoals, and many others I can not remember.  It can, and will, happen anywhere or anytime.  So if you do not give a rats ass about yourself think about those that love you.  Snap it on, the life you save may be your own.

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I almost slipped out Tuesday morning to beat the cold front that is on the way.  Boy am I glad I didn’t.  According to the weather dude the wind gusted an easy 45 and basically tried to blow everything down.  Some times discretion is the better part of valor, though it sure wasn’t in my younger years.  Must be how I broke the hull on my Champion coming out of Float creek jumping 5 footers when I should have been at the house.   At least today I got a new trailer plate and went over the whole boat tightening every screw on it.  Then it was the tackle room which really needed a cleaning.  And since fishing was on the tv in the tackle room what better way to spend the day if not on the water.

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No real plan right now, will be a day of weather watching.  It looks like there might even be another front on the way, though weather Dude says it will be rain but warmer.  Also starting to think about where I might fish in February.  The goal is to fish somewhere outside local each month.  January was Falcon, April is Montana and May is the Chandeleur Island houseboat trip.  Just have to fill February and March.  And it has been a while since I did the 5 different places in 5 day thing.  Sounds like fun just waiting for real spring.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines