Posts

Showing posts with the label john boat

Happy Place

Image
Work, stress, bills, politics, media, interstates, traffic, phones, social media, and the list goes on...  These things are part of today's society.  Everyone needs a "Happy Place" to temporarily escape.  For my wife, it is getting lost in a good book.  For Happy Gilmore, it was an odd dreamland destroyed by Shooter McGavin.  Mine is found at my local reservoir. I've spent countless hours fishing my local reservoir, learning every structure and contour.  The time I have invested here makes me secure and provides me a sense of familiarity.  I'm familiar with the water, weather, and fish patterns.  There is no stress related to water, weather conditions, or finding fish.   Anytime I struggle fishing other waters, I come here to normalize and find my Moment of Zen. After my "code brown" river fishing experience , I was in dire need of a Moment of Zen at my Happy Place.  Yesterday I took my FeelFree Lure  to my local reservoir.  On this picture-perfec

No Excuses

Image
No excuses. Rain or shine. The love of fishing with the "no excuses" approach has served me well in the past. I've caught some of my best bass in rainstorms while others are warm in their homes.  Last year I landed a nice largemouth in my Jon boat while a good Samaritan was cleaning up the river bank. He looked up while I was admiring the beautiful 19" fish and said, "Wow! Nice fish!".   I smile and release her so others may enjoy catching her and the future generations she will create. The good Samaritan yells, "What!?!?! You aren't keeping that fish?!?!".   I reply, "No, I'll let her make more bass and be caught again." By the look on his face, you would have thought I was skinny dipping in the river.  We silently agree to disagree and carry on as we were. To clarify, I occasionally keep fish for a Wisconsin fish fry.   I believe people are free to choose to keep or release fish within the local laws.  But I am

I've Got Worms

Image
Like Harry and Lloyd from the movie Dumb and Dumber, I've got worms. Well, my daughter does. But the are the good kind - night crawlers. Up until the end of last year, she was afraid of touching my plastics, let alone night crawlers. Though I am a bass fisherman at heart, I target panfish during ice fishing, when bass season is closed in Wisconsin in the spring, or when fishing with my daughter. Her favorite fish to catch is crappie. (As of last year, she catches them but doesn't touch them). Towards the end of last season, she suddenly lost her fear of touching worms. With spring (finally) arriving in Wisconsin, she has filled me with pride and embraced the hobby of worm hunting. She loves the outdoors and nature. She also enjoys fishing (though our trips usually end with a trip to build sand castles at the beach). This spring, she has also convinced her friends digging for worms is fun. In this iPad/tablet generation, I was proud she was willing to dig in the