What is it?
 

Are we all a bit "touched"? I work close to 70 hours a week trying to re invent/rebuild a business. I am good at my job. Talented some might say. I have a wife that many would be envious of. A beautiful daughter who is 2,5 and an absolute joy. I own property soon to be adding more to my portfolio. I don't currently make a lot of money see above about business.


Yet here I sit in a parking lot 2hrs out of my way. In hopes that I will have a tug on my line today that will make my drag sing. When I reach the fifty or 45 plus pound fish I know the desire will only get stronger. I love fishing! But it never satisfies me. To be honest I have yet to find anything that has satisfied me in life.

Then I am fortunate to find joy and satisfaction under the stars, to witness each sunrise or sunset as the case may be. I find being a part of the outdoors always an amazing event. I have had a whale cross my path not 50 feet away in the canal. Had deer come up the dune behind me or I have come upon them as I crested the dune or walked a path across Cuttyhunk. I have stood in the sand on a Cape beach and seen the Northern Lights (amazing). Catching fish is always the reason I am there.....but whether I catch fish or not I am almost never disappointed. Just being alive and able to go fishing is satisfaction enough for me......the rest is gravy!:uhuh:

You're right! 100% I do love all of that. There is nothing in the world like standing on a beach with zero ambient light and enjoying a light show. I felt the butterflies this morning when fish were rising. Regardless I gotta question myself at times when doing a 4 hour round trip. Sometimes I need a reminder
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Catching any fish for me is great....small fish, big fish......its all good! Big fish is better of course!:)

http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/...psfb8de2f0.jpg
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And there it is.....great pic, beautiful morning! Did you get a tug?

Nope but I am wiser for it. Regardless I ran into someone from tri state. Saw a couple friends and got porkfrogged by a young kid with a heavy shad. Wanted to kick him in the nuts but I am not violent
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It's called true love... Your statement about breaking your PB holds very true... I remember like it was yesterday... when I got my 61( my first fish over "50").. I was 28.. most of the old timers around the marina said..."well that's it you wont fish hard anymore".... nothing could be farther from the truth....that was 30 years ago... 17 fish over "50" latter ( 18 counting the 61)... last night it was after 2 AM when I shut my eyes... i was up at 5.. to work by 6:30... I've fish 10 of the last 12 nights... for what????.. true love...

"I wanted to kick him in the nuts but I'm not violent".. I just spit coffee all over my key board!

Seriously the second he came down about ten feet to my right I wondered if he understood why I was swearing a lot. I was polite though I didn't make any side arm casts with a treble laden plug
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He's young.. best to teach him now... and if he doesn't listen.. then kick him in the nuts..

dont think that surf men are the only ones prone to this silly behaviour... some boat guy's aint too bright either...

I saw that same sunrise, today, yesterday and many more times..always great.
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Andy is "touched" all right

Jackbass, you sound like a lucky man that works hard to bring you your luck

There are those that get the thrill from "seeing" the fish strike, and those that get it from "feeling" the fish strike, and then there are those few that fish for the sheer joy of the action of fishing, for the sights and sounds of the world around us while we are fishing (sometimes right at out feet)!

You can tell who these unique individuals are by how they describe fishing. Not that they caught a fish, but with much more zeal and emotion, they will describe (in detail) the time of day/night, the weather conditions, the water conditions, what(if any) animals were around, and EXACTLY how many fish they caught and what they weighed and/or measuered!

Everyone else will just say "I caught a fish."

Beleive me I know that. I have a front row seat to that crap out at the race. Yak men to hatteras boats all sharing the same water trying to troll the same drop. Guys cutting in on each other. Center Consoles getting up on plane with in 50 yds of shore. Two years ago I witnessed a guy grab a jig line with his prop when it snapped the poor guy jigging almost had half his face taken off.
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Im not a morning person, but its mornings like this that get me up to fish . No better way to start my morning than with a sunrise over ocean drive and a costa rican blend coffee as i make my way to the hunting grounds.

Attachment 57050

Damn. Nice.
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That picture is what it's all about.. everything else is extra!

Nice pics!... can make even a slow night seem ok.

same here :).

Yeap. Just gotta find the people with same wavelength of crazy! Watchin the show before dawn is always worth the price of admission

what did we used to call it larry, the church of surf and wood?...and big river.

Ok, I gotta get in on this, sunrises are definitely up there with one of the things I love the most about fishing...

Wow, be careful here.

Letting fishing become an obsession to solve unhappiness elsewhere in our lives doesn't work although we all drift towards it at times. It usually ends up very badly.

No offense to you at all. but I agree and a little concerned for you with that statement, you mention how you have a great family and job and sound financially stable (a "portfolio" of property) then say it's not satisfying....

Just always think there is room for improvement. I said I don't make a lot of money. My life is by no means perfect. We are just trying to put ourselves in a position later in life that will provide for us. If everything is totally satisfactory then where do you go? I can fish better. I can be more efficient at work. I can make my customers happier and sell more to them. I can't be good enough for my daughter. I am very good to her. But that is something you constantly learn more about doing. I suppose that is one of the reasons I love fishing. It is the only time I really get to put everything out of my head and try not to think about everything else.
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Exactly. Which is why it is important not to turn it into just another pursuit to be satisfied, some sort of goal or milestone to be achieved.
The bit about a 45-50lb fish not being enough to satisfy you is concerning. It (as well as getting angry at a clueless kid) indicates you are going at fishing hard like you go at the rest of your life, with success defined by goals.......doing that may make you "successful" (you may get the big fish you want) but it also will make fishing just like the rest of your life. Eventually that gets old and you'll move on to something else.......because what you really need is not another quest for elusive satisfaction, rather it is a break from that impossible quest. Taking that break is what clears your mind. Fishing does that if you let it, but you are perilously close to messing it all up.

There is nothing wrong with goals, but as the great white bucket guy said, "The joy is in the journey not the destination".

He was not a kid like 15 more in the 25 range and definitely knew what he was up to he was no rookie to the situation.

The 45-50 is just a mythical milestone that is a cool experience. I have been fishing for Bass in one form or another for 20 years it is not an obsession it is definitely a release. I enjoy the journey sometimes I just need to take step back ask the question and get reminded of why.

There are certain times when the enjoyment goes away for a short period due to external forces. I feel like I step back and come back to it.

Regardless the original post was a stream of consciousness thing.
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