Just Fishin'

   Well, I got my work done yesterday with enough time to get in a couple hours of fishing afterward. I was only working a couple of blocks away from one of my favorite ponds, so that's where I headed. I must warn you before you read any further, self portraits are not my forte'. This first picture is of one of my favorite  fishing tools, my bike... I pack a backpack, an ultralight, and my camera, and I'm ready for anything.

   My bike and I have been on many adventures. I don't drive (by choice) so if I go somewhere I go with someone or I go on my bike. I have gotten some strange looks in the past, overladen with gear, fishing poles bungee'd to the frame of my bike, peddling through downtown Ypsi. But I have never been one to care what others think of what I'm doing. (For the most part.) I enjoy myself and that's what matters. And over time I've got a little better about packing light. I also have a couple of telescopic rods that fit right in my pack now, so I no longer have to strap six and eight foot fishing poles to the frame of my bike. Not to say that I wouldn't if I felt the need...

   Anyway, on with my day... I got to the pond and someone was in my favorite spot. That seems to happen more and more often. This is a very unassuming pond. It's the kind of place that people ask, "Do you really catch fish out of here?" Well, yes I do... And over the years people have seemed to catch on to this fact, and it's gotten to where it's unusual to not see someone else fishing in my not so secret anymore spot. 

   I'm not complaining, I always encourage anyone to take up fishing. And I'm pretty willing to share information and locations, to get someone on a good fishing hole. But here's a warning to all you fishermen, if you want your "honey hole" to stay that way... Keep quiet. I use to catch four to six pound bass here regularly, now days what you see here is the norm. I didn't see a four pounder from this pond all last year. Their still there... just not as many of them. And they have become highly educated fish.

   ( See, I told you my self portraits are scary...) Almost all the fishing I do is catch and release. Every once in a while I'll take some wallies or some pan fish home, but maybe only once a year. And every year I bring home a few salmon from salmon camp. The vast majority of my fishing though, I take a picture and put them back. I see a lot of people who keep everything they catch. I don't get it... But what's worse than that is the people (and I know a few) who don't even intend to eat their catch, and they throw their fish up on the shore or on the ice, and leave it lay. If you do this, you are an ass, and you ruin it for everyone else. That is a complaint.

   I did pretty good this day. I caught a couple of Crappies, and a ton of little Large Mouth Bass. I probably caught in the range of twenty or so bass that were five or six inches long. Almost every cast for a while. And while I did have fun, I am a big fish fan. I like to fish for the fight. I like bass that are five pounds or better, I like those big ol' cats, and I love the feel of a three foot carp on ten pound test line. And there is nothing like wading in the river fighting a twelve pound steelie, or a twenty-five pound salmon. You catch one of those, and you know your in for a fight. But I do enjoy riding my bike around to local waters and seeing what I can pull out of that water nearly as much.

   I also like to find these little fishing holes where catching fish is petty easy, so that when it comes to taking my nieces and nephews fishing, I can bring them somewhere that they are going to have fun. And somewhere close to home if they don't have fun. If a kid goes fishing and doesn't catch fish, they don't want to do it again. But if you can keep them entertained with dinks and panfish until they catch their first "big" fish, well, then you got them hooked for life. And I can't think of a better or healthier past time than fishing for a kid to enjoy.

   I fished until I threw my favorite inline spinner into a tree and broke it off. Sometimes I can recover them by reaching out over the water, or by recasting to that branch with a treble hook and some heavy duty braid. Today when my line broke I watched my lure fall from the tree and disappear into the depths. No big deal really, inline spinners are cheap. But I believe in "lucky" lures, or that some lures just work better than others of the same kind. Maybe the make a slightly different sound, or have a slightly different flash or wobble. I don't know, but every once in a while you come across a lure that just seems to catch a lot of fish, and replacing  it with another lure of the same make and size does not always seem to work out. But I got my three dollars worth of fun out of that one, so I'm okay with it. But I took it as a sign that I had enough for the day, and I went home. But I will go back, I always go back...