Fishing Season

April brings brightness into our lives. Finally it’s warm enough to get outside and enjoy nature’s majesty in full bloom. For me, April also serves as the beginning to my favorite season and “living” activity, fishing.

This past weekend, I started the process of getting our small boat ready for the water. In early April, the rivers are swollen from early spring rains and much too treacherous for our liking. It will be a few more weeks before we can get on the water safely and enjoyably.

But by the end of this month, it will be game on! Nearly every weekend this spring and summer, usually on a Saturday morning, my youngest son and I plan to be on the water, “drowning worms” as we like to call it. Why do we fish? It is so much more than catching dinner or sport…

I think the featured pic for this week’s blog says it all. The pic on the left is my little sister and I circa 1985. The one on the right is my youngest son last year. Fishing is about spending quality time with family while enjoying nature’s majesty. Sure, we could hike, take trips to the beach or camp to enjoy nature and we certainly enjoy doing those things.

But for our family, there is nothing quite like getting out on the lake in the morning, when the water looks like glass then motoring to our favorite spot and the excitement of getting the first fish on.

My love of fishing comes quite naturally. Growing up in the 80s, fishing was my most cherished family activity. We didn’t go every week but pretty close. My family didn’t really have the resources (or interest) for a boat. We used only basic tackle and certainly didn’t prepare a lot to make our fishing trips more productive. As I recall, most of the time, we didn’t catch anything.

But that wasn’t what made fishing so special. When I went fishing with my family, it was a moment to be together if only for a little while. Even though it was decades ago, I can still picture standing on a river bank with my family, eagerly anticipating getting a “bite”.

I am no psychologist, but pretty sure my brain was conditioned at that young age to associate the act of fishing with family, togetherness and happiness. I certainly hope that never changes.

When I started my own family, I introduced my boys to fishing as soon as they were big enough to hold a rod! I too didn’t invest a lot of time or resources into good equipment or learning to become a master of the sport. I think it was probably less about the money and more about the lack of precious time. The 2000s are a lot more hectic than the 1980s.

Regardless, just like when I was a kid, my boys and I have an awesome time! Even my wife, who is not the most outdoorsy type, joined us on several occasions. I’ve even taken the family deep sea fishing a few times but, those trips often ended in a sea sick nightmare!

Although we never caught much when my kids were little, the memories made were priceless. Whether it was a Sunday afternoon at a local pond, while camping at a state park or fishing off a pier on the coast, I can’t recall a bad family fishing outing. Most importantly, we were together.

My first son, who is now a junior in high school, doesn’t have a lot of time for fishing anymore. But my youngest son still loves fishing and I hope he will be able to keep hitting the water every weekend when he starts high school next year.

Having a “fishing buddy” is helpful since we have to launch and recover a boat now! As I transitioned out of the Army in 2019 and re-entered civilian life, I wanted to reprioritize a lot activities. Fishing was at the top of the list.

It’s no secret, bank fishing is hit or miss, but in a boat, one can usually always catch something. I found a nice little fishing boat before I retired and my retirement gift was “repowering” the boat with a brand new motor.

We’ve got a basic fish finder that tells us depth and water temp and splurged a little on our rods as well as other equipment. We’ve found our favorite spots on the river near where we live. Now when we hit the water it’s a challenge to catch more and bigger fish. This makes the bonding time all the more fun!

But we still don’t take fishing too seriously. Although we’ll occasionally tie on a crank bait to try and land a bass (and promptly get it snagged on something) we usually just stick with night crawlers for bait. We always catch something, but most of the time it is just a handful of catfish or bream.

We generally catch and release but occasionally will bring home a “mess” for dinner if the fish are biting well. I think it’s important for the boys to understand how to live off the land. Something I also try to teach them when we hunt (more on hunting this fall).

Although we’ve upped our game a little, at the end of the day, fishing for us is about us spending time together. We laugh a lot and of course the occasional yelling (mostly during boat launch / recovery). But there is just no replacing the excitement and bonding that occurs when a fish is on the line.

These memories are priceless and I can’t wait to make more in just a few weeks! For me, there just aren’t many family “living” activities that can match fishing.

Tune in next week as I reflect on another April occurrence, albeit one not nearly as enjoyable as fishing, tax season!

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