Bits And Bobbers

 

I’ve been away from the writing desk for a long time but now feel the urge to say a few words about a lot of nothing. Sit back and enjoy….or not.

The older I get the more I gravitate to warm water fishing for bass. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to swing a fly for steelhead but my body is telling me warm weather is better. Besides, I only have one more year with a leading 6 in my age, so maybe I should listen to my body. Problem is, my mind gets in the way. I know come September I’ll start having thoughts of steelhead that will pull me to the river. Talk about conflicted!

For various reasons, I put the rods away last Thanksgiving and didn’t fish for almost four months. That was my longest break since I got back into fishing 10 years ago. Ended up missing most of the steelhead season. And, I’m still alive, so I guess it didn’t kill me.

Having all that time over the winter allowed me to check out several fishing websites. I happened to see a post someone made about wanting to report a spin fisherman for poor handling of a fish. Why specifically mention the method of fishing?  I’m sure there are fly fishermen and centerpinners who have handled a fish poorly. Sometimes it just happens no matter how hard you try to protect the fish. Unless you were born with a fly rod or centerpin outfit in your hand you started out with a spinning or baitcasting rod. Let’s not forget how we got our start in this great sport.

Congratulations to all the fishermen who participate in organized river clean-up activities. The sad thing is we have to have organized river clean-ups. Too many people rely on the other guy to pick up their trash. Check out the CLE Fishing Company. They have a bag that you hook to your belt or pack and can be used to hold trash. Just a great idea. 

 

I can be happy on the water and not catch a fish.

 

                                     Warm weather smallie.

There are a lot of people who try to take advantage of others. Watch your equipment when you’re on the water. Put a pack down and someone may just walk off with it. And, don’t leave a rod behind in the parking lot. You won’t get it back.

A strike indicator….it’s still just a bobber!

Go out and fool a fish!