Outdoors Column | Les Winkeler: Excitement of a long overdue fishing trip - The Southern
Last week, for the first time in nearly two years, I went fishing.
Oh, I’ve caught a couple fish in the last couple years, but I hadn’t really been fishing. The last few times I’ve wet a line it has been in a supervisory capacity with the grandkids. That’s not really fishing, that’s maintenance work.
You don’t really fish. You untangle lines. You bait hooks. You take fish off the hook, but you don’t actually fish.
Granted, there is a unique joy in that, particularly when watching your granddaughter catch fish after fish – but, it’s not really fishing.
This fishing hiatus wasn’t a conscious thing.
During the pandemic I found myself drawn to other outdoor pursuits. We took kayak trips to various lakes in Southern Illinois. But, most of the time I found myself photographing the flora and fauna of the region. This solitary pursuit seemed uniquely suited to keep COVID-19 at bay.
Therefore, when long-time friend Gene Morgan invited me to go fishing, I jumped at the opportunity.
The morning was chilly, but not uncomfortable. The fresh air was invigorating. And, of course, fishing the previous day had been outstanding, or so I was told. The stories of the yesterday’s success had visions of filling my cooler with crappie slabs dancing through my head.
Within moments I rediscovered the essential, unspoken joys of fishing — the wonderful sense of hope and anticipation that lifts your soul with every cast, the connection you feel to the line moving slowly through the water and how the nerve impulses instantly transmit excitement from your fingertips to your brain when a fish takes a swipe at your jig.
For the first time in a couple years, I felt that sense of elation you feel when you set the hook and you feel that fish tugging on the line. Then, there is that moment of wonder – is it a crappie? Is it a slab? Is it something tiny that will be tossed back to swim another day?
Experienced fishermen will tell you they can determine what type of fish it is nanoseconds after it is hooked, and that is true. Given the nature of the struggle, or lack thereof, I was sure that every fish I hooked was a crappie.
There were, or course, other things I’d forgotten.
For instance, that feeling of frustration when that big fish is just inches from your reach and it flicks its head, somehow improbably tossing the hook.
I’d forgotten the joy of four-pound test line tangling in your spinning reel, stripping yards of line against the drag until the knotted part comes free. I’d forgotten the sense of jealousy watching others catch fish while your casts continue to come up empty, how you glance over your shoulder to see what other anglers are doing differently.
But, those things are just minor annoyances, not negatives. They’re just part of the experience.
If you caught a fish on every cast, there would be no challenge. You might as well go shopping for fish.
Plus, there are the intangibles of being outside.
During this three-hour outing, I watched a female goose doggedly guarding her nest against any intruder that got too close. I heard a hen mallard squawking incessantly while she flew around the cove. Tree swallows buzzed around my head at one point. And, there were enough coots swimming around, I believe I picked up bits of their language.
Oh, yeah, after a while it almost became incidental, but I caught a few fish. And, the only lines I had to untangle were mine.
LES WINKELER is the outdoors writer for The Southern Illinoisan. Contact him at les@winkelerswingsandwildlife.com, on Twitter @LesWinkeler.
2021-04-23 16:00:00Z
https://thesouthern.com/outdoors/outdoors-column-les-winkeler-excitement-of-a-long-overdue-fishing-trip/article_1a7fcdb2-d058-50d6-ac41-54637c51036b.html
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Bagikan Berita Ini
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