The main thing to remember is this:
It's not so much about the number of fish in the sea, as enjoying the fishing trip.
You can choose have fun on your little outboard skiff with nothing more than a sun-ripened bologna and mayo sandwich and a few cans of 'store brand' grape soda cooling in the water – still slotted in their plastic six-pack rings, and moored to the boat with a length of polyester marine rope… Even if you never catch anything, there's so much to enjoy: the silence of the early morning run before the other fisherpeople wake up, the sun beating down overhead at noontime, the call of the distant loon advocating "hooks up, head home". It can be exciting, and meditative. It can make you feel more human, and more connected to the natural world.
There are a lot of variations, of course, including –
- The Reluctant Reel, who throws back everything that makes it in the boat then immediately casts again (sometimes with the same worm)…
- The Gadget Freak, who spends time and effort tracking down the best spot on the lake, sure to have the best, most beautiful, and biggest fish…
- The Goal Catcher, who lands their fair share, but refuses to keep anything that isn't on their particular list of acceptable species, no matter if that means going home with an empty belly a lot of the time.
Then there's the rest of you, who just bring a spork and a salt packet with you wherever you go, in the hopes someone will just magically leave a plate of Lobster Thermidor out on the sidewalk. Believe me, that's a meal you probably won't be as happy about the next day.
You can worry endlessly about how many fish are out there, if you'll get the right one, or even wind up with one at all… But all that obsessing really does is keep you from noticing your own smiling reflection on the shimmering water, the cool breeze running through your hair… And, in a few cases, even the person sitting across the boat from you, rod in hand, wondering when you'll remember that they're there…
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