Though trout season in Pennsylvania has been in full swing for the past couple weeks now, I wasn't among the first-day anglers seen flocking to the streams on Saturday, April 12th.
I used to go on the first day. But after awhile, you get tired of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with others trying to catch their limit, usually ending with 'throwbacks'.
I've been fishing since I was six years old. In recent years, my best friend and I have been setting aside a weekend or two to go out and set aside the doldrums of daily life for the sake of getting back to basics.
This is really what it's all about...especially to those who ask "wouldn't it be easier to go out to Long John Silver's if you want fish?"
It's so much more than catching the meal of the day, if you're a survivalist.
Babe Winkelman, the Minnesota-based professional fisherman who still hosts his weekly how-to TV program, taught conservation in addition to his pattern approach to fishing that brings in the big ones.
His approach, once found successful, could make one dangerous to the fishing population, he claimed. Therefore, he called upon anglers to release smaller fish to allow them time to grow and spawn, and to keep only a select few to eat.
For me, it's about the beauty and splendor of the outdoors. The tranquility of the streams over well-worn rocks that will still remain long after you and I are gone. The rustle of a gentle breeze through the forest. Wading into cold knee-deep water (in your waders, of course) to be "one" with your potential catch. Knowing you're not alone in the world, as you intrude upon space where wildlife sleeps.
I don't care if I don't catch anything, truth be told. But it's nice to know you can...when you can freely leave your briefcase at home and pick up the tackle box, heading to the nearest trout stream.
And sadly, this is a part of our culture that the next generation is losing sight of.
Neo-conservationalists, animal rights activists and vegans preach the cruelty of fishing and convince others to abandon the practice entirely.
Living off the land is nothing new. It dates back to Biblical times. Are we so much in this world that we've forgotten what it's like to survive on our own?
As it's often said, "give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime."
This is why I'm an advocate of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America, our military personnel, and the concept of hunting and fishing.
Maybe we don't have to struggle to survive now. But if push came to shove, we know we could do it, with these skills.
My daughter often asks me if I can take her fishing with me one of these days.
I tell her someday. And I mean it.
But for right now, I'm content with her playing with her dolls, picking flowers, and coloring in her books. Fishing does require a considerable amount of silence, patience and attention, and those attributes are not something a soon-to-be five-year-old has at this stage of the game.
She has the rest of her life to decide if she wants to follow in her daddy's footsteps.
And I'll be ready.
NEXT WEEK: Officer Bob
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