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Reflecting Back and Looking Forward
Author with an oversize redfish, a sign of big things to come in 2009.
Just recently I had the task of cleaning out our garage, and in doing so I had to arrange and put away lots of fishing gear and tackle. I took my time in completing this tedious chore and at some point it felt like I fell into a trance that got me reflecting back at 2008 and what fun I had fishing this past year. I will never forget the big trout that January of 2008 brought into my hands! A wonderful feeling arose knowing that those big trout were released to carry on their life process of making more speckled babies. If someone was watching me they would have thought I was crazy, laughing out loud at the memory of celebrating my sixteenth birthday on the water with three of my best friends. No way could I erase the image of my friend running out of the brush with a wild hog in pursuit during a break from paddling the Old Arroyo Colorado.
As I continued cleaning, I ran across my Hall of Fame lures that had been put away for some time. Although each one had a story to tell, I paid particular attention to a white and chartreuse plastic bait that reminded me of an epic day of flounder fishing. As a matter of fact, one of the flounders I caught landed me a place on the STAR leader board a few years ago. This led me to remember that I had never been flounder gigging until this past year. I was able to gig my first flounder and it was a blast.
I am presently a junior in High School, and I am qualified to say that being a teenager now days is rather difficult with all the distractions and temptations every teenager faces. I for one have allowed sports, especially fishing, to captivate my mind. I have found that fishing brings a sense of tranquility and allows me to push away the things that are bothering me and keeps me focused on things I need to achieve.
During the reminiscing I caught myself slacking off on the garage cleaning, but how could I forget all the good times I had while out on the water? How could I not recall the fun fishing trips I took with my friends and being able to get them hooked on fishing? I think teaching them how to fish artificials was a bigger task than cleaning a thousand garages, but when I finally saw them catching fish on their own, it was certainly very rewarding. I also sadly remember kayaking right after Hurricane Dolly and seeing the destruction it created and observing the absence of predator fish everywhere we paddled.
As I walked over to the trash can, I glanced at the boat my dad had given to me. The first thing that came to my mind was the day I took out the boat for the first time and the mishap that occurred on the side of the road. A driver had jumped into our lane causing us to swerve into a ditch causing minor damage to the trailer. I dreaded that early morning phone call to my dad, but I made it anyway. After a barrage of words of correction, he gave me the okay to continue our venture. I'm so glad he did. I got to experience what it was like to sit behind the wheel and make decisions as to where to fish. We did catch plenty of fish on that trip which was an added bonus.
Taking longer than expected I finally finished cleaning the garage, but the reminiscing did not end there. I thought to myself what great moments 2008 had allowed me to experience, and then my thoughts transferred to what lies ahead in the coming year. I know that this coming year I am going to focus on getting more of my friends into the sport of fishing. If I can make a difference in their lives through the sport I love, it would make me very happy. On our school campus my close knit group of fishing friends all sport on the same fishing emblem on the back windshield of our vehicles. I expect that number to rise this year. In 2009 I also plan to teach more in the conservation of our precious Laguna Madre. Most importantly in whatever you do, learn to make a difference to those around you.
As I continued cleaning, I ran across my Hall of Fame lures that had been put away for some time. Although each one had a story to tell, I paid particular attention to a white and chartreuse plastic bait that reminded me of an epic day of flounder fishing. As a matter of fact, one of the flounders I caught landed me a place on the STAR leader board a few years ago. This led me to remember that I had never been flounder gigging until this past year. I was able to gig my first flounder and it was a blast.
I am presently a junior in High School, and I am qualified to say that being a teenager now days is rather difficult with all the distractions and temptations every teenager faces. I for one have allowed sports, especially fishing, to captivate my mind. I have found that fishing brings a sense of tranquility and allows me to push away the things that are bothering me and keeps me focused on things I need to achieve.
During the reminiscing I caught myself slacking off on the garage cleaning, but how could I forget all the good times I had while out on the water? How could I not recall the fun fishing trips I took with my friends and being able to get them hooked on fishing? I think teaching them how to fish artificials was a bigger task than cleaning a thousand garages, but when I finally saw them catching fish on their own, it was certainly very rewarding. I also sadly remember kayaking right after Hurricane Dolly and seeing the destruction it created and observing the absence of predator fish everywhere we paddled.
As I walked over to the trash can, I glanced at the boat my dad had given to me. The first thing that came to my mind was the day I took out the boat for the first time and the mishap that occurred on the side of the road. A driver had jumped into our lane causing us to swerve into a ditch causing minor damage to the trailer. I dreaded that early morning phone call to my dad, but I made it anyway. After a barrage of words of correction, he gave me the okay to continue our venture. I'm so glad he did. I got to experience what it was like to sit behind the wheel and make decisions as to where to fish. We did catch plenty of fish on that trip which was an added bonus.
Taking longer than expected I finally finished cleaning the garage, but the reminiscing did not end there. I thought to myself what great moments 2008 had allowed me to experience, and then my thoughts transferred to what lies ahead in the coming year. I know that this coming year I am going to focus on getting more of my friends into the sport of fishing. If I can make a difference in their lives through the sport I love, it would make me very happy. On our school campus my close knit group of fishing friends all sport on the same fishing emblem on the back windshield of our vehicles. I expect that number to rise this year. In 2009 I also plan to teach more in the conservation of our precious Laguna Madre. Most importantly in whatever you do, learn to make a difference to those around you.