Last night, in spite of excellent conditions I didn't want to go fishing. The night before I had made a solid effort and found nothing more than a lot small bumps and one mediocre fish. The prior several weeks had been hardly better. Small fish, sometimes on every cast, but nothing that would take drag. An occasional weak, sick looking 34" fish covered in sores. But I went anyways, angry at myself for going, resigned to doing poorly, questioning my commitment to the sport and all it costs me, mad that I don't live a more balanced life.

The travel was easy. Then a long difficult hike after that over broken rock. An early 34" fish then nothing, so another long hike further in, alone, to a spot Flap and I used to fish, somewhere I'd not taken a fish for several years. And there was nothing. One tiny fish and a few half-hearted bumps. But standing there, on Flap's favorite rock, with some of the best striped bass water in the world in front of me, it all started to feel OK again. I started back. I took me past a place where I had taken several nice fish years before, a place full of possibility and promise, but where on the way in I'd found nothing. I stopped and made a few casts with a parrot darter. 2/3 of the way through the second cast the plug stopped solidly, the water exploded in a surge of phosphorescence, the little GSB1201L doubled over and the small Stella screamed. Under-gunned. Five seconds and it was over, my plug rubbed off on the nearest boulder, the plug covered in gobs of red rock weed, hooks straightened. How big? Who knows? I doubt anything massive. Probably a #30. It didn't really matter. She was there, I was there, and for a precious few moments we were connected. She won, good for her. I won, too. The hike out felt different.

Why post this? Because I think good fishermen get jaded. The better we get the more we count on doing well. We learn to predict when and where our chances are best. Often we are right. And what we catch is impressive. Five, six,....twenty fish, large fish, fish that fight like champs, fish that take strength to lift, with mouths big enough for your hand. And we feel good about ourselves because of it. We get used to that feeling, expect it, and it becomes why we fish. But this is a trap. Fishing when you are confident you will catch becomes limiting. You find you don't go, because it is not June and new moon at the canal, or October and beaches packed with bait. Summer accentuates that. Success is much more difficult to find, failure the more likely outcome. Unless, that is, you measure success differently, measure it not by what you catch but by what you touch.

Last night, standing on Flap's rock, casting in his foot prints, I remembered this. That is what I learned from Steve.
He was right.

Thanks for that post.... I needed that. Think I'll hit the beach tonight and leave the boat on the mooring.

"measure it by what you touch.. not by what you catch"... that's the way I've looked at it for quite some time... it's made me a better fisherman...

good post George.

We all have expectations...as I've told nightshift many, many times... all I ask out of my "adventures" is to be able to do what I want to.. the way I want to do it... that meaning .. fishing the beach if it is my wimsey... running the plug in the mouth of the river if I so desire... or tossing eels or plugs at the local boulder field.. if King neptune and mother nature allow me to do this at the time i so desire .. then I have no complaints.. if i go fishless then so be it... the thrill of the hunt is as important to me as the catching... the solotude of a section of beach ( yes it does exsist) the spooky shadows of a boulder field as you crawl between the stones... the rise and fall of the waves as the boat crawls against a 5 knot current returning the salt to the sea while a large swimming plug dances in the dark water.. these are the reason I fish... it's a differant type of adrenalin rush.. the fish are the bonus chip.. because in the end.. I'll be releasing said fish..

This is a such a great post, I think we all lose perspective at one time or another and this helps to bring it back.
Since I have been so busy with earning a masters degree the last three years while still working full time, and then starting a family in the middle of it, my time on the water over this time has really been about just enjoying getting out and letting it happen.. ..it's really been great for putting things in perspective for me, fish or no fish every moment out there is precious and sometimes I think its easy to forgot how lucky we are to be able to get out and enjoy what we have.

Great posts. Thank you.

awesome post!... it sums up how i start to feel around this time of year when a skunking can take the place of a good night. i printed this and stuck it in my fishing log as a bookmark to remind myself of why i do it... thanks!!

great post, as always...

Great post.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

great post

Thanks
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Great posts. Thank you.

well said.

Great post. I wish I was able to fish with you guys more then that one time we crossed paths at RP. Glad you hooked into a nice one!

Excellent post George

Some of my most memorable nights are when the fishing has been slow. Everyone wants to hear a screaming drag, fish a blitz, or land a 50, but solotude, a bright full moon shining on my face, shooting stars, the sounds that come from deep in the marsh, and the the sound of the surf curling up the beach; these are the things I truly miss in the off season. I just tend to notice them more when the fishing is slow.

Life throws curves just when you are ready for a fastball. I have fished less this year than in my last 10, even with my shiny new boat. Three kids with one approaching a drivers license and there is zero urgency to fish if I think I am taking myself away from what is truly important. The boat will be there,as will the lesion covered bass. George, get out with SK to fast water....leave the L at home.

Thanks George.

Thanks for sharing that George

Thanks for sharing!!!

Well said george. You have a talent of painting a picture with words. Thanks for sharing.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Whoa. Dude.

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I have always been more about the experience and less about the results....but it is nice when you get both! I always say I just want to catch one fish when I go out....size does not matter (again it helps) small fish are fine!!!!! Sunsets, sunrise, shooting stars, saw the Northern Lights one night from the backside beaches (AMAZING), had a huge deer come out of the dunes behind me one night at Race Point by the light house, whales a cast away going by in the canal, so many experiences so many people will never see.....oh and there is the fish.....if I get lucky!!!:fishin:

Great post George!!:uhuh:

good post george.

Well said. Probably the reason I enjoy fishin with U so much as I got half a chance to outfish someone. Keep up the good work.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

brilliant!............loved this George:)

Great post, I needed that. Especially the way the last 2 days have been for me on the water...........
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Live every day to the fullest.... treat everyone like you would want to be treated...and appreciate the wonders of nature.... good stuff will come your way...

Really nice post George, thank you.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Next time tell Flap I said hello

George, kind of put a chill up my spine. The mention of Steve's rock and all. Thanks for reminding all of us what it's really all about.

I've realized at a pretty young age that it doesnt matter if Im fishing for bass, fluke, tog, scup it doesnt really matter. I just really enjoy fishing, and being on the water. Im an ocean type guy. Something about running out front on a glass morning as the sun is coming up, smell and taste of the salt, that makes me realize anything were about to catch is just a bonus.

Only been doing this 2+ years....started to think I was not doing well...but this post tells me I am fine. I have few fish, many memories. The fish will come with more dues.

I've re-read this post a few times already. Really well said. Thank you.

Well said George, thanks

George well done. My thoughts exactly. Many put too much pressure to catch. Stop and smell the roses does have a meaning for us surf man. I love a clear night casting under a blanket of "stars". Many non fisherman will never experiencethis natural beauty.

Thanks for that.

Really got it right with that post. When the fishing gets slow, it forces you to try new techniques/locations/presentations, and in the end I find I usually learn at least one thing every time out. Even if you just make observations about what's happening (or not happening) on the water, that experience pays off. I always find it easier to deal with tough times catching by taking a like minded buddy along and teaching him things as well as learning from him.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Well put
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Nice George.. Flap left his soul out on the beaches ,. Nice you know where to go to "touch" the places he loved and the time he spent there . Fishing slow ? Oh yea ,, about now he'd be beating up Brockton in a comical way . Can't help but think about Flap even when fishing Hull and when you guys made the pilgrimage that night ,.

Thank you George for keeping me the right size.
I needed that.