The Uncertainty Principle
 

So as I put in my time last night, in splendid solitude, stumbling around in the rocks, undisturbed by anything with fins, except for an occasional desultory tap, I got to thinking how much these empty nights add to the fishing experience. How over the years the hunt has become as important as the result and without the perspective of failure, the reward of success is diminished. How the greater the uncertainty, the better the hunt. How even a fishless night feels like it has taught me something that will pay dividends in the future. You feel the same, or did I just absorb too much DEET?

I may be spending too much time thinking, looking, reading, digesting, analyzing, tracking etc. etc.

should just enjoy... I have spent ten years at this, and I still shake in the parking lots , as I change into the waders...
it is the "never knowing" that keeps it AWESOME...


I will probably still think too much

Sounds like you're just trying to justify your skunking :hee:

I don't mind a dry night, although last season I had so many it didn't do anything to build the hunt...it was just depressing.

-spence

I went out for bft yesterday for the first time. I hooked up and 45 minutes later the approximately 100 pound fish was at the surface on its side. One failed attempt with the gaff for my brother was enough for the tuna to say goodbye.Lesson learned;it is not the destination so much as the journey that gives joy. The smile is still on my face a day later although the grill looks lonely.

reflexion from the budda
 

From my perspective, there are no "empty nights".
There is always something new to see; new to hear - no matter how faint.

There is always something new to learn, a shift in a bar; a new hole.

The old bromide fits here as it does in many areas of life.

IT'S THE QUEST
NOT THE GOAL.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE DONUT,
AND NOT ON THE HOLE.

or

"The Night is as Empty as an Individual chooses to make it".

Thank God we have this sport!

so sayeth "The Budda".:lama:

Ill have to agree w/bassbudda, been at this for some 40 yrs an I CANT GET ENOUGHT, it S*&%S living 1.1/2 away BUT it's all an adventure to me. always will be. spent meny a night fishless, couldent have cared less.woundering from spot to spot, drinking coffee, smoking a cigar, shooting the S&%T, just taking it all in. Ive taken friend to different parts of the cape, an watched them fish an had a GREAT time, just passing on info, an how to's with them, they as me are up in age now an we still look foward to heading out. it's in our blood an will always be. as long as I can see saltwater an surf Im as happy as a clam:spin:
GOOD LUCK GOOD PLUGGIN:wavey:

been preaching this for some time but seems it been falling on deaf ears..always been half the fun in "the hunt" as you get more time under your belt, skunkings do become less and less though.

If I only went fishing to catch fish, I would have quit 25 yrs ago.

I've been having these same thoughts lately .. Damm .. Its just fishing .. I've made it an ordeal .. Years past I fished not too think . Met an old friend, at an old haunt, last night stumbling in the dark . Friendships, places, experiences. makes me smile . :kewl: a few large couldn't hurt though ..

Its what keeps me going again, night after night. Just when you think you've got a pattern figured out, you get skunked. It does not bother me too much.

ther catch is always great. most times it's just being away from the preasure that life bring to our plate on a daily basis. a chance to kick back and enjoy

...it is that uncertainty that keeps me totally drawn to being on the water as much as i can...

the anticipation is key.

Someone with a gambling problem cant find entertainment in a slot machine unless they are winning. Someone without a problem feels excited with every pull because of the ANTICIPATION......

Yes, that's why they call it fishing , not catching. There is nothing much that compares to just fishing, surfcasting a good strech of beach after dark all alone. Landing a fish is just a bonus.

please note me signature.............

i've always loved the HUNT waaaay better

than the reward, and even more so if it is a place that
"you've found" ~on yer own, so to speak~

you know, when you feel like that you've put
everything together from a fishing perspective, and
then you wind up catching. simply, icing on the BEE YOO TEEE FULLL

multi-layered, sweet, ironic, salty, mind-altering, adrenyline pumping
cake that is this serendipitous moonlit obsession that we crave. and
the anticipation is in that first BITE, be it fluff or substance.............

it's ALL Good, to the very last crumb!!!

Thanks for saving me the typing :) Same, same.

Just the results of too many dismal nights trying to be justified and being a martyr when you could easily get in a 39 year old skiff with as you call it "a pituitary freak" and catch fish until it gets stupid.

Just a thought.

I would honestly love to get a good night of skunking in.

I have been so busy with work, weddings, crappy tides, storms, mountain biking, wakes, celtics games.... etc. I have hardly fished this year. Any night on the water is generally a pleasurable experince for me.

As Clammer always says "enjoy what you have"

I feel the same despite absorbing my share of deet this am.
Two mornings ago I took two 30# class fish along with some high teen sized stuff while fishing the cape shore. Sensing opportunity I returned this am looking for a repeat which never came. Several small bluefish affirmed your statement 100%. Its always a hunt, never guaranteed.

Some of my best memories are from the nights when nothing ever took the bait. To catch is great but to share time with friends or the solitude of the surf with only yourself is truly a blessing. Those lonely nights under the dunes with the surf lapping up against the sloped sand and the wind whirling over your shoulder has a cleansing effect on ones mind and soul.

well said kr....my fondest memories over the years arent the catches either...its all that stuff that goes along with it..