What Is Fishing?

Hi John. I haven't been on vacation, just quiet. I use most of my vacation time by taking every Friday from Memorial Day through the end of September. This lets me fish my brains out on Friday (without any family pressure) and put in five or six hours on Saturday and Sunday.

I'll tell you, if passion makes someone a fisherman, I'm there. When I get to Maine on Thursday nights, I'm so hyped up to go fishing the next day that I have to take a sleeping pill. Even then, I'm lucky to get four five hours of sleep. I'm always the first one out in the morning and usually the last to leave when the crowds start arriving. Usually, I go home around noon, but wind up back again by 4:00. I've fished one week after breaking three ribs and have foregone stitches in my fingers in order not to miss tides. It's just that I'd rather be safe and comfortable than catch more fish. I've done enough crazy things in my day and seen some of my contemporaries as guests of honor at wakes to know when to cool it.

In terms of joining you on a weeknight or even a weekend, we close the house on Columbus Day. I usually drop off the reels in Kennebunk for their annual service, but this year I'll take them home. I'd like nothing better than to fish with some of the Mssachusetts guys and learn something about plugging. I do some plugging in September, but end up going back to mey mackerel after a dozen or so unsuccessful casts. I'm told that once I get a hookup with a plug, I'll change my ways. Let's hope that happens next month.

Hey, we still have to do lunch. My office is moving to Kenmore Square in late September, so we should do it soon.