Hell, I didn't realize it until my grandson wanted me to take him fishing but I haven't purchased a fishing license in the State of Washington since 1999. I can only attribute that to 1) working too much, 2) disatisfaction with the State's Department of Fish and Wildlife, 3) lack of good fishing areas anymore, 4) hatchery fish... everywhere, 5) people... everywhere, 6) the price of the licenses necessary in this state to fish for anything in the water from tin cans to steelhead and finally 7) Montana!
Needless to say, when the grandson asked me to take him fishing I went down to the store and bought a license (to the tune of approximately $70.00!!!) and we went fishing... fish we did... fishing. When he went home that weekend we'd fished our little hearts out. But now, with my little fishing buddy back at his home a hundred miles away I'm feeling a bit abandoned.
I have this license, my dusted off rods, reels, lures, hooks, tackle box and other gear... I have all of this stuff ready to go but was slipping back into that same negative mindset I had before my little buddy made his fantastic suggestion to me to go fishing. So, looking at how things are shaking out this year... now that I have the license, the time and the equipment... now that I have all of this stuff resurrected from "the garage" I'd better use it.
I'm in a position now where I can take a bit more time off and do. I actually use my weekends to relax or catch up on things around the house and I take days off in the middle of the week from time to time just to get some simple "down time". So now, now I can go fishing...
Yesterday I met my brother at Lake St. Clair, a multi-fingered lake situated in Thurston County. The fishing at this lake has always been "okay" and the lake has always been one of my favorite lakes to fish. The downside is that you pretty much need a boat and I don't have one. My brother does. He and his boat showed up around 0600 a.m. and we started fishing. We hit every corner, nook and cranny of that lake! We caught some nice fish, returned several to the lake and kept those two that were hooked too bad. Not only did we get some good fishing in but we got some sun and got to spend some good, quality brotherly time together... much like the old days.
Yah, all in all I guess I proved one thing to myself yesterday... fishing is just that... enjoying the peace of the activity, good company and every now and then landing a fish or two. It really hasn't changed since I was a kid... the reason, the activity. It hasn't. I realized I missed it so very much. I prefer fishing the rivers and remote streams over lakes but hey, fishing anywhere is fishing!
I guess my grandson knows more about me than I do... at least when it comes to quality time.
I'd post more but have to get...
...Gone Fishing!
