Evolution of Fishing

     When I first began really fishing, I was 9 years old with a wooden boat that I had salvaged with a small second-hand motor and a much-used rod and reel. Occasionally, my dad would loan me his fiberglass fly rod.

     The boat had been sunken and abandoned near the pier at our

lake house. Our neighbor – and fishing mentor/buddy – said that if

I could raise the boat, he would help me make it sea worthy. It took

over a week to dig it out of the sandy bottom, clean it out and get it

ready. My neighbor then applied a liberal amount of tar to the

bottom. My dad bought me a used outboard motor and I was on my

way to be a REAL fisherman.

     There was no such thing as a “bass boat.” Depth finders and fish

locators were not even on the drafting tables. Lures were very

simple things – no spinner baits, no plastic worms, no spinning

reels, no graphite rods, no monofilament line.

     In other words, it was a mano-a-mano contest between

fisherman and fish.

          That early beginning has been the foundation that allowed

me to move from the sport of fishing to the art of fishing.

          I miss those early days. Perhaps I miss fishing with my

neighbor who was always patient with me and gentle in his 

teaching. Or maybe it is the lack of worldly responsibility and 

stress that I miss. A time when summer stretched forever and the 

most important decision of the day was which lure to use. A time 

when the simplest rod and reel was all I needed.

          To quote Omar Khayyam:  “The Moving Finger writes; and,

having writ, moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit shall lure it back to

cancel half a line, nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.”

          Once again, I have reached the age where the worldly

responsibilities are not so great and I have more time to fish. This

time with considerably better rods, reels and flies. It is still a 

contest with the fish; that never changes. But now I am able to 

appreciate the art far more than the sport.

          To those who are young in the sport/art, let the words of Proverbs 19:20 carry you deeper into life and fishing: “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.”

It is with gratitude to my father and Glenn Moates who helped me lay the foundation of my fishing.

          Blessings,

          Doug