The folks that actually read my blog have come to realize that I am a bit cantankerous and possibly even antisocial towards some humans. My fishing excursions may also look a bit sadistic at times with cliff dives, long hikes and even that one porcupine that I stumbled across on the early morning trail in 2010. There are so many reasons that people choose not to fish with me but for the sake of this post I will try to narrow it down to some sort of Top 10.
1. Fishing is more than a pastime for me. It is an obsession. I don’t think fishing should be relaxing or even fun. We are there to catch fish.
2. Beer and other alcoholic beverages are not to be consumed when fishing. We are there to fish, not to get drunk. I am not entirely against getting drunk afterwards.
3. Most of my fishing places do not allow the use of live bait and all rules, regulations will be respected. I have also been known to blindfold people before the trip to ensure the fishing location cannot be found later.
4. 99% of the time we will be releasing the fish. (Yellow perch and some fish may be harvested as needed but generally as a rule the fish are going back with as minimal harm as possible.) The local grocer will have a seafood section we can hit on the way back if you absolutely need to eat fish.
5. There is a good chance that I will pollute your mentality with my conspiracy theories, conservation rants and even voodoo curses about fishing.
6. We probably won’t be going for trout. By summer my panfish addiction may be in overdrive as well as a good bass fix will be in order. With enough daylight and fuel, an angler can do both in Colorado within a single day.
7. I will bring a spin rod. (I will have a fly rod as well but will mostly use the spin gear depending on what the fish want.) This is a huge source of discontent for a lot of anglers in Colorado for some reason. “If you didn’t catch that fish with a fly rod…you cheated”.
8. I will ask you take pictures of me with my fish. It will start to wear on you after a while if I am the only one doing any of the catching. Oh and I curse a little bit too if the fish doesn’t cooperate with the photo op.
9. I don’t bring extra water or supplies. Sometimes I barely bring enough for myself. It’s a real problem for me actually. But if you carry extra supplies in I will gladly help you utilize them.
10. You will have to get up very early, stay out very late and do a lot of walking, rowing or other extraneous activity to reach the fish. I do not guarantee you will catch fish. A lot of people take one fishing trip with me and take one trip only for this reason more than the others.
For these reasons and many more it will be no stretch of the imagination that my name will rise to the top of the other list. The list of people they most likely don’t want to meet or fish with at the OBN Rendezvous or ever for that matter. This is not done to exclude me per say but does support or otherwise highlight the vast intelligence of the awesomely fantastic OBN Community.
People do occasionally ask me for fishing trips and have made the mistake of actually showing up at the appropriate time (there is a 15-minute window before the truck leaves). They assume I have a big fancy boat and the fish will just jump right in their laps. After an hour they realize this is going to be a lot of work and start remembering crucial appointments or even medical excuses.
The bloggers I would like most to meet would be Joe and Rebecca. Being able to thank them for creating OBN in person would be pretty amazing. Searching and finding outdoor blogs is fairly difficult for me for some reason. After becoming a member of OBN the list of blogs I follow has doubled and my follow list has grown as well. Blogger highlights, the forum, gear reviews…the list goes on and on. Once again, Joe and Rebecca, thank you.
Lastly, there are a few bloggers and readers who have reached out to me and I hope to connect with them in some fashion for 2011. Nothing has been written in stone as of yet and I may need an e-mail reminder here and there to keep the dates on target.
With most appreciation,
Mattsabasser
14 comments:
Sounds good. Let's fish together sometime. I can handle it, but won't bring a camera. I'm there to fish.
I think if I made a list it would actually be pretty similar to yours... except for that spinning gear thing. I use an ultralight spinning rod a few times a year (when I just feel like it's the only way to go), but I'm pretty addicted to the fly rod.
Other than that, I think you and I are pretty much on the same page.
Matt, that is a lot of good reasons for not having many fishing companions. I can really relate to reason number (7). Why does everyone (alright not every one, but, a lot of other anglers look down their noses at guys who spin fish) have to be so fanatical about it?
Hey Matt, I'd like to fish with you, if you remember I'm probably closer to your grandfather's age than yours.
I believe it was Teddy Roosevelt that co-opted the phrase “All roads lead to Rome” and changed it to “All roads lead to fly fishing” (at least I think it was Roosevelt). Fly-fishing for me is more or less a side road that I take when needed.
However, I have the utmost respect for the art of fly-fishing and view it as the pinnacle of both skill and patience. There will always be a spot on the shoreline next to me reserved for fly-anglers for many reasons but do not expect the same in return. There have been enough spin anglers with poor ethics, bad manners and loaded stringers to taint the spin image in Colorado forever.
Note: If you bring a spin rod to certain Gold Medal waters in Colorado you are only asking for trouble. It is what it is.
@Gary Thompson: I would fish with you as well. Somehow I think that I would spend a lot of time taking pictures of your fish and asking questions like: “What is that pattern you have tied up?”
@Jay: Thanks for putting up with me, Jay. This is not a sour grapes post for being excluded off of every fishing wish list over at OBN. The weather has me socked in and just getting to work has been a journey to say the least. Racking my brain to keep the posts rolling. Thank you for the comment.
@Mel: Last year I had penciled in a trip to see my Dad in your neck of the woods. Maybe 2011 is the year I make the trek and fish some of that amazing area once again. You know the Snake River is loaded with trout right there in downtown I.F.? Cliff dives to fish the bottom of the falls is money!
@Cofisher: A fish has never asked me my age. If it did I would have to confess that this year I am turning 42. You are very close to a few spots I fish regularly. Let’s pencil in something around late March\April? Hopefully blizzard season doesn’t hang around until April like it did last year.
Geez - I actually DID want to fish with you, but now I'm scared!!
I used to be you - attack the fish, pre-dawn to well after dark, take a canoe solo for a 10 mile float, get out and hitchhike back to the car, then drag the canoe up the bank and load it myself, ...
With age , I feel that I've, umm, "mellowed", and I like to smell the roses a little more, and take a few more pictures. That said, I think I still have one more all day "Fish Attack" left in me.
Bring it on!
Joe
@Wolfy: You are the best! I had a neighbor who begged me for two years to take him fishing. He even dubbed me “King Fisher” which he still calls me to this day. Cold November morning we hit a high section of the creek. A foot of thin ice covered the horizontal edges of slack water and he did not bring gloves or suitable attire (Metro region is about 10-20 degrees warmer than high country).
Two hours later he was shivering and begging me to take him back to town. This fishing run was well suited for tourists, dentists and just about everyone else or so I thought. On the way back I exclaimed, “Good thing we didn’t go for the bushwack…you might have froze to death.”
Share the exact same feelings... Kinda use the same criteria for what makes a good fishing buddy.
@Sowbug: I am guessing that you and I have fished together without even realizing it. We fish a lot of the same areas and have probably passed each other on the trail a time or two. It wouldn’t take much to connect the dots as far as scheduling and work in a few casts. Spring will be here soon. PX is calling.
Hey, don't forget, you shunned *me* last summer. Some nonsense about a twisted ankle or something. I'm sure it was just an excuse.
I'm still game this summer with or without the OBN gathering. Your methods and obsessiveness fit perfectly with my obsessiveness. I'll be in touch.
You make me laugh! I'm really appreciating our one fishing venture together now. Thanks for going so easy on me! Next time I will leave the pole at home pack food and water and just try to keep up so I don't miss the photo opportunities.
@MNAngler: I thought for sure I would make that trip too. Had you told me that you were fishing PX my ankle would have gotten a layer of duct tape. Duct tape fixes everything…for a while at least. Maybe I would still have a foot. Maybe not. Let’s re-set the venue in 2011.
@Cindy: And I didn’t catch a single fish…on my best lake. I was in shambles the whole drive home. But I learned a valuable lesson that day. Some trout lakes go to %$#@ in the middle of the summer. I had to go back twice before discounting the possibility that your glamorous smile might be bad fishing mojo. The hike was good and the scenery was the best. Rain soaked ground from the day before and wild mushrooms all over the place. That place is closed now. The owners just got tired of trash from the public and now focus only on the water shares.
@James P, Kim the Legend and so many more: There are so many times that I have tried to set up trips with others and have them only turn into shambles. The first time I tried to guide someone it was without a doubt one of the most dejecting trips of my life. It was with Kozoh and his son who had never caught a bass before. I took them to my money spot only too face the lake inversion, which had seemingly occurred over night. Desperation set in and I became something ugly inside. Even if only for a moment that experience cemented an important aspect in my mind. “I just want to fish”.
Ya know...I think that it would be a blast fishing with you...and I'm pretty good with the camera! Don't count me out of using that spin rod again someday...
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