Category Archives: Stories

Holistic Fishing Part 2…

As I sit at my desk trying to put my thoughts down on this blog post, I realized that this is a topic that is so vast that I don’t think I will ever be able to convey it all.

For me, and the type of fishing I prefer, I believe the best summation is “COMPLETE EXPERIENCE.”

When I’m driving to my chosen fishing destination, I rarely think about the actual fishing. I focus on driving and taking in the scenery, the fishing is all but ignored until I’m finally on the water.

And then…I tend to focus on a few key concepts such as…

-Attitude

-Contentment

-Connectivity/Immersion

The first one is huge! A great attitude goes a very long way. I don’t want any undue, outside influences interrupting my time on the water. No pressure. I turn my phone to silent as I hate hearing it “ding” when I’m on the water. Also, I slow things down and take my time, being meticulous on my foot placement and casting targets.

The second concept is that I’m OK with not catching a fish. Seriously…any fish caught is a bonus. Just being out there is enough for me and any failure is a great teaching tool if you’re open to it.

The final portion is total commitment to the outing. Immerse yourself in the entire setting with no distractions and take it as it comes. Fish unscripted! That’s why I’m not doing fishing videos anymore…it takes my focus off where I want it to be… enjoying the entire experience from start to finish.

I sincerely hope this makes some sense…perhaps it’s just the ramblings of an aging fisherman.

Leave No Trace…

This is a picture that we took when we made it back to the car. Although we didn’t catch any fish, we were still productive.

We both carry plastic grocery bags in our packs just to pick up garbage on our way out. We each filled one up. Surprisingly, we ran across another person out there who was picking up trash as well so that was great!

And honestly, it wasn’t near as trashed out as we thought it would be. I still wish Oklahoma would put a 10 cent deposit on all cans and bottles…I think that would help tremendously.

We are stewards of the land, and as such, we should all do our part.

You Might Want to Keep This Meme Handy…

This meme stays on my phone at all times. Invariably when I send a picture of a fish that I’ve caught, my friends always ask that ONE QUESTION: “Where’d you catch it?”

The picture is usually followed by another text that includes this meme. At that point, it’s probably a good idea to just turn your phone off, because you know what their response is going to be.

Just Sayin!

Keeping an Eye on the Weather…

Here in Oklahoma, the weather can be unpredictable. All of our fishing plans begin with a weather check because it can change so fast. As of today (March 13th) we have had a total of 4.05 inches of rain for the year. 2019 caused a lot of problems for fishermen due to lake and river levels being high for months.

As you can see from the chart…in 2019 we had 59.55 inches of rain. And 61.79 inches of rainfall in 2015. Both years resulted in massive flooding. I’m hoping 2021 won’t end up being the same.

I remember canoeing and fishing on a local river where it started out as a beautiful sunny morning yet by noon, the skies opened and thunder and lightning drove us off the river. We even had a tornado come through in close proximity.

That level of unpredictability forces you to be alert and prepared. We generally have to carry more gear than we like. I’d rather have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

So Spring is almost here, and with it comes crazy weather…we’ll do the best we can and capitalize on every opportunity to fish. Stay safe!

EDIT: and for some humor…I’ll throw in some earthquake info. We’ve had 346 earthquakes in the last 30 days and 1,948 earthquakes in the last 365 days. Fracking needs to be banned!!!

A Donkey!

This is a picture of my wife holding the largest Velox smallmouth I have ever seen. I would consider it a trophy size Smallmouth Bass for the streams that we fish.

In the background, over her left shoulder, where the water next to the bank is the deepest, is where she caught it.

I had moved past that section to make room for her and was casting when I heard her drag go off. As I turned to look I noticed her rod was bent really deep. Decent sized fish! I put my rod down and broke out the camera and started snapping pictures. It was great to see the process from almost start to finish, especially when she realized it was a BIG Velox!

We kept the fish in the water and marveled at its size, I checked lighting and background and we snapped a quick picture before releasing it back into its natural habitat.

We fished that section multiple times during 2020, but that spot was gone…dry as a bone. The main portion of the stream is much further to her right and it was a fluke that we decided to explore this little branch.

Definitely a great day and a lucky day at that.

Average Size of Velox in Our Favorite Streams…

As I’ve stated before, the Neosho-strain Smallmouth Bass does not grow to the same size as the Northern-strain Smallmouth. Habitat and other environmental conditions severely limit the growth potential of the Velox (Neosho-strain Smallmouth Bass.)

Our local stream conditions vary greatly during the course of a year. Floods and droughts are the biggest factors. Some years there is barely enough water to get your ankles wet and other years you are pushing the limits of safe wading. Yet the Velox perseveres!

I have spoken with biologists and have read various papers on the Neosho-strain Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu velox) to gain insight into this magnificent little fish. How they over-winter, seasonal stressors, forage and feeding patterns etc. etc.

And that’s also why I refuse to fish a stretch of river to death…I just pick a few prime spots and move on so that I am not negatively affecting a larger proportion of fish.

Knowing what this fish endures during a one year cycle makes me respect it even more. And the fish in the picture above is estimated to be between 8 and 10 years of age! Long live the Velox…

Holistic Fishing?

I was tasked with “riding shotgun” over our chickens today to make sure they were safe while free-ranging, and while sitting there on the porch, I began thinking about what my style of fishing might be called. The only concept that I kept coming back to was Holistic Fishing.

Definition…”Holistic”-adjective-Emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts.

Makes sense to me. Fishing is such a multi-faceted sport that I don’t believe you truly stop learning during the entire lifetime of your endeavors.

I drew upon the Celtic Knot for the simple reason that it personifies the uniqueness of “perpetual endings and beginnings.”

There are an infinite number of parts that make up the Whole… some we are aware of and others we are not. I factor in the Mind, Body and Soul aspect when I go fishing. Again, it’s about the Whole. The weather, stream flow, season, water depth and clarity, who I’m fishing with and why I’m fishing on a particular day. How is my physical strength, am I stressed or relaxed, do I feel pressured by time or other people? And more specifically, how do these all inter-connect to produce a desired result? Do I actually need a result?

Everyone has heard the reference to “Being in the Zone,” and that is something I strive for whenever I fish. That to me, is the culmination of a good day. When I take in all of the sights, sounds and smells and my situational awareness is pegged. When the fish cooperate and I truly feel that I am in my element.

Being “One with the Fish” is such a cliché, but it is a valid sentiment. But it is bigger than that. Much bigger! Sometimes I feel as if my vocabulary isn’t polished enough to come up with the proper words to convey the message so other people might understand.

I need to do some more “thinking” on this topic and as such, I will consider this subject a Work in Progress…

Am I Crazy?

For years I have fished with low-end rods and reels, in part due to finances and also because I have kids. Occasionally I’d find something on sale that was a little better so I’d grab it.

One time I got lucky and found a bunch of Falcon rods mismarked so I snatched some up. Only one survived due to a mishap where one of the kids slammed the tailgate of my truck closed and broke 3 of the rod tips off. (YES, Falcon has a great warranty, but I will never exercise a warranty due to negligence)

After that, I only bought cheap stuff and managed to do OK with them. As the years progressed and the kids grew up and started their own lives, we began to do incremental upgrades on gear. Fast forward to 2020 and we had a lot of time on our hands due to COVID.

Through research and watching videos, we were introduced to Japanese made fishing tackle. It definitely piqued our interest and we decided the time was right to treat ourselves to some better rods and reels.

Do we “NEED” Japanese made fishing tackle? Absolutely not. It was purely a “WANT.”

Like most things, there are levels or tiers, and we didn’t aim straight for the top of the line stuff. We were conservative about it and started at the upper-end of the bottom tier. What an eye opener! Even a $125.00 JDM rod was light years ahead of anything we had fished with previously.

We eyeballed the next tier up and made two rod purchases. They were even better! Higher quality, better components, and sensitivity was amazing. However, that’s where we stopped. We just couldn’t justify the high-end tackle. I’m sure the top tier was a lot better on all accounts, but it was out of our budget.

I have friends who have zero qualms about buying a $900 fly rod. I can’t do it! $400? Maybe. I don’t fly fish enough to justify the expenditure. (And I’m a guy that can rationalize A LOT of things) At least with expensive fly rods you are able to pick one up and see if it suits you…not so with gear from Japan.

I’m not a gambler and can honestly say that I’ve never been in a casino. But I was gambling big time on buying tackle from Japan. There are a lot of reviews on JDM Ultralight rods but we were after Light and Medium Light rods and noticed the void in reviews. Fortunately it paid off and we got lucky and have been very pleased with our purchases.

And now I can honestly say that a $700 outfit fishes much better than a $350 outfit. So yes, perhaps I am a bit of a “nutter” for spending that amount, but it ticks ALL of the boxes.

You won’t see me “swanning” around the stream showing off because it’s not my style. But you will see me working this setup hard to wring every penny out of it in an effort to “rationalize” the expense! I’m only 50 once! cough…cough

Hurry Up Spring…

It’s February 27th and it’s still Wintertime, and we still have to get through March before its safe to say Spring is right around the corner. But I’m ready for it and wishing it comes sooner rather than later.

The picture above is of me from last Spring. I love wet wading a small stream chasing Velox smallmouth. I do other types of fishing; but stream fishing is what gets me fired up the most.

If the world was perfect and I didn’t have to worry about some low-life breaking into my vehicle, I’d stay on the river for days on end. Retirement is years away, but I already know how I’ll be spending my time. That’s where my hope lies…the future. I put up with useless meetings, silly policy directives and questionable management decisions because it pays the bills and grants me some retirement options. I fought the “silver handcuffs” as best I could…but with mouths to feed it was an inevitability.

I’m not complaining; I’m actually content with my decisions. But I always focus on the future and the freedom that I will hopefully have with it. All of life seems to be a compromise in one way or another. Friends say “I’m wishing my life away.” I say, “I’m wishing my work life away so I have time to live.”

Being surrounded by fishing tackle helps me stay focused, it calms me and fills me with purpose and more importantly, it fills me with hope. When I can’t fish I resort to sifting through old pictures and reading my fishing journals, looking at maps and making plans. I wonder if my father realizes how hooked I became on fishing? He got me into it, but I will never place blame on him, quite the opposite. I sometimes wonder if he felt the same way.

So I will “ride the ride” until I can get back out and do some serious fishing. It won’t be much longer…

The Honest 20 That Got Away…TWICE!

I have never considered myself a fisherman that was only after trophy fish. I enjoy fishing and catching fish is always a bonus.

So let me set the backstory a little bit.

We had embarked on a trip to the Boundary Waters and were on Day 2. This was a traveling trip where we paddled all day and set up a new camp every night. The fishermen would have to squeeze in any fishing they planned to do. Camp #2 was set up and all of the chores were done so I had a bit of free time. It was approximately 10:30 in the evening, with fading light.

I grabbed a rod and reel and slipped into a canoe by myself and paddled out to some promising spots for Pike. I had caught a few small pike (hammer handles) and a couple of smallmouth before I decided to upsize my lure to a big Mepps #5 inline spinner with squirrel tail garnishment on the treble hook. I was using a 6ft Medium rod and a 2000 size spinning reel.

I noticed a huge swirl just off a point by some reed beds and made my cast. I felt my lure get slammed and it was immediately followed by an explosion in the water. The line went tight, the rod bent and the drag started screaming. Then the “Texas Sleigh Ride” began. My canoe was being towed all around that little bay as I fought to control that fish.

With a fishing rod in one hand and a paddle in the other, I truly had my hands full. As I was towed a little closer to our campsite I started yelling for them to help me (like a dummy, I didn’t bring a net or even a pair of pliers.) I was waving at them to come help me while they started lining the shore and waving back! To me it was surreal. I waved more frantically and yelled louder for help. They waved harder and smiled more. The American Gothic painting flashed through my head when I saw a couple standing there with fishing poles in hand. OK I thought, I’m on my own!

After about 10 minutes of this madness, I managed to get the fish to the canoe. It was HUGE! At first I thought it was a Muskie but the teeth layout and coloration was wrong. It was a Monster Pike! Next I tried to figure out how in the heck I was going to boat this beast. No net, no pliers. Can’t lip it like a bass! I reached to the head to pick it up by the “eyes” but there was no way my hand could reach across…it was too thick. That’s when I knew I had an Honest 20! A pike that weighed 20 pounds or more. A true trophy pike.

While I was wasting time trying to figure out how to get this monster in the boat..Mr. Pike was using his time wisely! He was resting and regaining his strength. At that point we made eye contact…when you look a pike in the eye, he looks at you like you owe him money and he’s there to collect! In an instant, he thrashed his head back and forth and snapped the treble hooks off my lure. He stayed boat side long enough to smile, give me the middle fin and glide back to the deep. I was stunned. All I could do was sit there and drift.

Eventually I paddled back to camp and gave everybody a good chewing for not helping. They of course couldn’t understand what I was saying and thought I was waving and having the time of my life. UGH! They just started waving back and cheering me on. “Crushed Dreams”…needs to be a lure color!

Fast forward to 2 years later and I was in the same spot ready for Round 2. I wanted MY PIKE!

I made the cast and set the hook. The fight was on and it was a good one, lasting almost 15 minutes. I was pretty certain it was the same fish…I recognized the smile!

Said fish is brought to the side of the canoe and I start trying to haul him aboard. Pike are SLIMY and I lost my grip. And yes…SNAP! As he made a last ditch effort to escape by diving deep…I had forgotten to open the bail on my spinning reel. With my drag setting being too tight, the distance between the fish and the reel being too short and coupled with his surge to escape…the line couldn’t hold and snapped. Again I was stunned to silence…the scoreboard flashed 0-2! My fishing partner in the canoe even had a tear in his eye. It was over.

I never tried for Mr. Pike again…content to leave him be, safe in his little Bay. An old warrior that was best left to history. TRUE STORY

Spin-Fishermen Don’t Get Any Love…

I was at a bookstore the other day and was browsing through the fishing magazines and noticed that there wasn’t much coverage of people fishing with spinning gear. There weren’t any glamour shots of exotic destinations where they were using spinning rods. It was all about fly fishing and a few about bass anglers. To be fair, there were one or two magazine articles showing guys with spinning gear but they were half a world away and out at sea fishing for pelagics. That’s cool and all, but I live almost smack dab in the center of the United States. But at least it was something!

I have searched the Web and have occasionally run across blogs or posts that tout the virtues of spinning gear but they are few and far between. It just seems bizarre that there aren’t any magazines focused on the topic of fishing with spinning tackle.

I know ultralight fishing is huge in large parts of the world such as Europe, Russia and Japan and gaining traction in the US. Bait Finesse Style is gaining in popularity as well. I know for a fact that there are fisherman wading streams and using spinning gear! But still, every publication seems overshadowed by fly fishing. It would be nice to see at least an E-zine covering the sport.

I have nothing against fly fishing, in fact I fly fish myself. However, there are times when I much prefer using spinning gear and it is very effective. It could be that I live in a state that is very windy and therefore throwing a fly can be extremely frustrating. When that occurs I always reach for my spinning gear rather than packing up and going home.

Who knows…maybe I’m just whining, maybe I’m just hoping that spinning tackle will start to get the coverage it deserves. Or it could be that I need to dig deeper on the web. If anyone knows of a good blog or something please leave a comment.

Maybe I’ll start a Chapter of the STEA…Spin Tackle Enthusiasts Anonymous.

After all, I rarely see fishermen showing off their spinning gear and having conversations about it. Are we ashamed? Are we supposed to stay in the shadows? I think not!

Dreaming…

The wife and I were talking over dinner last night. We were having an actual conversation rather than trading text messages across the table like some others.

The topic of winning the lottery came up. To me, it seems like a loaded debate, but it can be fun nonetheless.

What would YOU do if you won the lottery?

I’d become an itinerant fisherman!

Of course, I’d probably build a better, more efficient house…but it would be more of a “home base” of sorts. A spot to come back to for rest and a recharge. Nothing fancy or McMansion-esque. A place to hang pictures and hold memories.

There are many places that I would love to fish throughout the world. Places seen in magazine photos that look extraordinary and epic.

I’m not the “glitzy social butterfly” type. You’d probably find me camped on a remote island having the time of my life. No lodges or room service, just immersed in Nature.

The reality of it is…it hurts my head thinking about all of the money and what to do with it. I’m not driven by money and it sure as hell doesn’t impress me.

I’d probably end up giving most of it away…that’s just how I’m wired.