Yes I was . At least in my own mind. And after all
isn't that what counts ?
For all of you non fishing people, perhaps you may
want to skip this post and wait for the next go-round.
Then again if you enjoy reading about people wallowing
in self pity and grief maybe you might actually enjoy it.
Once upon a time I was a pretty good fisherman. I
really was, honest. I prided myself in pin point casting,
cat like hook setting quickness. and I very seldom lost
a fish once it was hooked. Combine that with my
unmatched ability of controlling a boat and I was pretty
much perfect.. not to mention modest. To this day I have
boxes of trophies hidden away somewhere and quite a
few regional qualifier patches scattered around.
So what happened? Blame it on age .. blame it on
grandkids .. blame it on other interest .. blame it on
whatever you want. the truth of the matter is I really
truly stink anymore. For the last few years my fishing
outings have gone from eighteen to twenty bass
tournaments a year with a couple of days of 'pre fishing'
for each one not counting a week down south every spring
and at least a few days at Lake Erie in the fall, to a couple
club tournaments a year. Last year I think I had the boat
out four times total The rest of my fishing was done with
bobbers and red worms. And most of that time was spent
putting worms on the granddaughters hooks for them and
taking the bluegill off when they caught one. I'm not
complaining mind ya .. I cherish every second of that time
spent on the ponds edge with them. I'm simply saying that
my priorities have changed. The results ..........................
I decided this year to fish more if only to justify owning
a boat and paying for winter storage etc. So far I have
fished three club tournaments and each one has surpassed the
one before it for stupid moves on my part' My pin point
casting hast turned into random tree catching casts that either
catch on limbs, bushes. docks or any other structure that might
be in the general area. And if I don't get snagged I end up casting
six feet shy of the target with a splash that would scare any fish
within a city block away .
And as far as boat control, let's just say I've done more trolling
motor repair this year than six fisherman should do in a year
I'm not sure if there are more underwater obstacles these
days or I'm just not paying attention ( I think we know the answer)
Just today I was fishing a stump field and ran the boat totally
up on a stump not once but three times. It's not an easy task
getting a 3500 lb boat off of a stump I can tell you that ! It takes a
good bit of running from corner to corner and rocking to get the
job done. I just hope nobody was filming it.
In the last tournament I missed several fish strikes only to find out
that I hadn't removed the protective hook guard from the new lure I
was using. oops!
As my finial act of stupidity I got into a discussion with
the tournament officials about a new split size limit at the lake we
fished at today Lake used to have a five fish limit on Bass. and
any bass had to be at least 15" long. New rule says 2 over 15"
and 2 under "15. State law is nothing under 12" so I assumed
it was two over 15" and two between 12" and 15". They say
there is no minimum size. I don't think a tournament committee
can over rule state law so we argued (discussed) the matter in depth
for quite sometime I had that on my mind all day. So much in
fact that I measured the first two fish I caught and threw them back
even though they were in the legal slot limit. Needless to say I didn't
win the tournament.
So what's next? What can I screw up next Sunday? I'll have to be
extra careful because I will have a witness with me next week. Then
again that might be a good thing. Maybe he can keep me straight.
Maybe I take the back of the boat and just watch .. Kind of like a
refresher course.
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