Why I fish

There comes a time when a man or woman needs to put down their work and grab the fishing rod and tackle box. The reason why I fish isn’t always for the food, it’s also for the sport. Somebody just said “Fishing, A Sport?” It’s not really that physical, but it requires wit and intellegence. Hey, for some fishing is boring . I’m the type of guy who will watch hours of it on my flat screen, so when its too cold to fish I can at least imagine being the guy landing a 20 pound steelhead on a fly or having the fight of my life reeling in a marlin in the Gulf of Mexico. You could consider me an “avid angler” and have recently taken up fly fishing with success. I began fishing as a boy, I can remember my first trip. I woke up to somebody nudging me at around 430 am. I was around 9 or 10 at the time and my “nany’s” father was taking me surf cast fishing. We went to this private beach in Carlesbad, CA after hitting the gas station. To my knowledge, the days catch was at least 3 or 4 dogfish, a stingray, and a little seabass. I reeled in all of them, and it was a great first time for a youngster, me.

Fast foward a decade, now I’m living in Portland, Maine. For those of you who don’t know a thing about this commonly forgotten state, all you need to know is this. The striper season is absolutely incredible. Living on the coast of New England will provide you with excellent salt water fishing but no fresh water. Although the Presumpscott, my old stomping grounds, is an estuary. These guys are pound for pound, some absolutely strong fish. You can tell a striper for their horizontal stripes accross their entire body. In the rivers you would find a hole and use sand worms which were badass because they had actual teeth. You had to make ‘em swallow the hook so it wouldn’t fall off. Off the dock you would carry a Kastmaster or jig of somesort  and try for Makeral. Just catch one and your good for an hour or two. The trick is to catch a small little guy the hook him in his back so he’s still alive and can swim. Just wait and the food chain will do it’s part.

Come March in western Washington, where I live, the wait will be over. Lakes will be annually stocked, and rivers will open (Cedar). The trout, which is my forte, will return after winter. The much anticipated baseball season will slowely begin to commence. Bottom line is that I respect fish. They live in a completely different world than us; underwater. To the naked eye, a body of water is just what you can see above the surface, which is just water. Being fortuneate enough to pull a fish out from the water to me, is a miracle. The biology of a fish is advanced and highly evolved. Gravity doesnt exist underwater so fish can move extremely fast with less muscle. Fish are beautiful and delicious. Cooking fish is always fun whether you grill it, smoke it, sear it, fry it, or bake it, it always taste’s bomb to me.

Fishing is a good way to reflect, and try new things. The scenery is usually breath taking. I have have actually fed a bald eagle by throwning a fish 10 or so feet from the boat I watched as the mighty bird with a six foot wingspan tactically swooped from a tree and snatched it up a split second after is hit the water. This was one of the most incredible occurances to ever happen to me and it capped a great day on Beaver Lake in Sammamish Washington. My rods are ready, my tackle box is organized, all I need is time to pass. I’ll probably hit up the Skykomish for some steely’s or maybe even out to Forks to fish the big rivers. So, when asked why I fish, I will answer “becasue I’m up for the challenge”.      - Tight Lines over and out.

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