Who Are They
We live in a world of instant gratification. We want it and we want it now. Though I feel as though I live a simple life, I, too find myself falling into this pattern. In some ways I have an infinite amount of patience, while at the same time, wanting satisfaction in an instant. Let's face it, unless you drilled a hole in the Ice somewhere, this winter stinks. I drive past my fishing spots and see Ice and wonder to myself, "When is it going to get warm?", as if Mother Nature should rethink her way of conducting business because she owes me. It sounds sort of selfish when you think about it, but the sad truth is that's how we live. I say this now, but I am sure that while I am in my truck today I will turn on my weatherband to see if the water temperature magically jumped from 38 to 60 degrees. When spring finally arrives we will be happy, won't we?
We will peel of the shrinkwrap, pull our rods out of hibernation, and start faking illnesses at work to get out there and fish. Come on, you know that unless you already scheduled your vacation and cleared it with the wife, you will be telling your boss how sorry you are that you can't make it to work, but you feel like you are dying- the whole time you have your boots on and the truck is running in the driveway. If you are smart, you will start coughing now. Maybe by the time it is warm your boss will think you have SARS.
In the spring, I do the majority of my fishing off of the banks in the back bays. There is a certain peace to going out at sunrise, seeing the glasslike water, interrupted only by the splash of your cast - and hopefully the landing of a nice catch. Just being out there relaxes me and I find it very gratifying. Don't get me wrong, I always am looking to catch something good. I once spent half of a summer
trying to catch a linesider that kept spooling me out and ultimately breaking me off. However, I am always grateful I live close to the water and am sometimes rewarded for my persistence.
Unfortunately, though, there are some fishermen (and I use the term loosely) that only have one goal in mind. They come from near and far. Like a swarm of locusts resembling the days of moses, they decend upon the area boat ramps, bridges, and just about anywhere else there is a body of saltwater, solely for the purpose of going home with a cooler-load of fish. The species and size are irrelevant to these "anglers". I cannot count how many times I have seen people tossing fish in the trunk of their car or hiding them in hidden comprtments in their boats. I once saw a guy putting a fluke in his bucket that was about the same size as one I once pulled out of a striper belly. You know the type of people I am talking about. For me, it is sad to see this. I am not completely innocent, I must admit. I have kept flounder that were about a half an inch short or so after hooking them in the gill. My own logic told me it was going to die anyway. Yeah, it was wrong, but I did it anyway. Sure there are gray areas. I wouldn't begrudge a guy who kept a striper that was 1/8 of an inch short. What I am talking about are the people with blatent disregard for the fish population. These are also the same people you see waving goodbye to their beer cans as they slowly drift away and sink into the water.
I recall a time my wife and I were getting ready to call it a day when we saw two morons walking on to the bank after nearly sinking their BMW in the sand. When they asked me how we did, I told them of our catch of a couple of shorts. They were shocked that we threw them back. "WHO THE HELL ARE THEY TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN KEEP AND WHAT I CAN'T?!"
Simply put, the answer to that is They are the same people who brought the striped bass population from a terrifying low. In recent years the population has strongly rebounded thanks to their efforts. I have had them show up at 3am next to my boat to make sure we were following the rules, and I have seen them checking coolers along the beach. They sit parked in the weeds with binoculars, watching to ensure that years of effort are not undermined by the people who don't care whether your children or my children will have something to fish for. If it wasn't for them, in the future you may have pictures hanging on your wall of you and your grandson holding up your trophy catch of empty beer cans.
We live in a world of instant gratification. We want it and we want it now. Though I feel as though I live a simple life, I, too find myself falling into this pattern. In some ways I have an infinite amount of patience, while at the same time, wanting satisfaction in an instant. Let's face it, unless you drilled a hole in the Ice somewhere, this winter stinks. I drive past my fishing spots and see Ice and wonder to myself, "When is it going to get warm?", as if Mother Nature should rethink her way of conducting business because she owes me. It sounds sort of selfish when you think about it, but the sad truth is that's how we live. I say this now, but I am sure that while I am in my truck today I will turn on my weatherband to see if the water temperature magically jumped from 38 to 60 degrees. When spring finally arrives we will be happy, won't we?
We will peel of the shrinkwrap, pull our rods out of hibernation, and start faking illnesses at work to get out there and fish. Come on, you know that unless you already scheduled your vacation and cleared it with the wife, you will be telling your boss how sorry you are that you can't make it to work, but you feel like you are dying- the whole time you have your boots on and the truck is running in the driveway. If you are smart, you will start coughing now. Maybe by the time it is warm your boss will think you have SARS.
In the spring, I do the majority of my fishing off of the banks in the back bays. There is a certain peace to going out at sunrise, seeing the glasslike water, interrupted only by the splash of your cast - and hopefully the landing of a nice catch. Just being out there relaxes me and I find it very gratifying. Don't get me wrong, I always am looking to catch something good. I once spent half of a summer
trying to catch a linesider that kept spooling me out and ultimately breaking me off. However, I am always grateful I live close to the water and am sometimes rewarded for my persistence.
Unfortunately, though, there are some fishermen (and I use the term loosely) that only have one goal in mind. They come from near and far. Like a swarm of locusts resembling the days of moses, they decend upon the area boat ramps, bridges, and just about anywhere else there is a body of saltwater, solely for the purpose of going home with a cooler-load of fish. The species and size are irrelevant to these "anglers". I cannot count how many times I have seen people tossing fish in the trunk of their car or hiding them in hidden comprtments in their boats. I once saw a guy putting a fluke in his bucket that was about the same size as one I once pulled out of a striper belly. You know the type of people I am talking about. For me, it is sad to see this. I am not completely innocent, I must admit. I have kept flounder that were about a half an inch short or so after hooking them in the gill. My own logic told me it was going to die anyway. Yeah, it was wrong, but I did it anyway. Sure there are gray areas. I wouldn't begrudge a guy who kept a striper that was 1/8 of an inch short. What I am talking about are the people with blatent disregard for the fish population. These are also the same people you see waving goodbye to their beer cans as they slowly drift away and sink into the water.
I recall a time my wife and I were getting ready to call it a day when we saw two morons walking on to the bank after nearly sinking their BMW in the sand. When they asked me how we did, I told them of our catch of a couple of shorts. They were shocked that we threw them back. "WHO THE HELL ARE THEY TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN KEEP AND WHAT I CAN'T?!"
Simply put, the answer to that is They are the same people who brought the striped bass population from a terrifying low. In recent years the population has strongly rebounded thanks to their efforts. I have had them show up at 3am next to my boat to make sure we were following the rules, and I have seen them checking coolers along the beach. They sit parked in the weeds with binoculars, watching to ensure that years of effort are not undermined by the people who don't care whether your children or my children will have something to fish for. If it wasn't for them, in the future you may have pictures hanging on your wall of you and your grandson holding up your trophy catch of empty beer cans.
