B.C. by Mastroianni and Hart for October 25, 2024

Did I? I don’t see a beer in your hand."

Catching a good rest…

Like the old man sitting on the pier said to me, “There’s more important things about fishing than catching fish!”

He probably doesn’t even have a hook on it.

Six-pack on the end of the line? Well, you don’t want that hook to go to waste.

“Fishing is a condition of mind wherein you cannot possibly have a bad time.”

Tales of Southern Rivers (1924) by Pearl Zane Grey

Notheeng fishy going on here eh.

Well at least it better than them kooks who lets the fishies go back into water after catching em instead of eating em.

“drinking beer and drowning bait”

I think the point is to get off the vegetation less sandy desert, and find the last remaining green tree to sit in the shade under in the entire land.

I’m okay with just dangling a line in the water (no hook required) so I can hang out and relax. I’m okay with fishing as a means of getting food. I will never understand catch and release. If I’m going to mess up another animal, in my mind it should be for sustenance, not for yucks.

For my part, never enjoyed actual fishing and am perfectly happy lounging by the river bank without any gear at all. But if I had to, I could and would.

I’ve always said this, “If you think that the purpose of fishing is to catch fish, you’re missing the point.”

Which is one of the reasons I am not fully retired: I don’t fish and I don’t golf, so what’s the point?

Religion, politics and money are the reasons for war.. until the planet is one culture and everyone just consider themselves earthlings. There will be wars.

If you have to catch fish to have a good day fishing, you need to find another hobby.

If you’re working, someone will bug you. Not if you’re relaxing.

Many years ago, I read an article about a Japanese Business where people pay to sit with fishing lines in a large tub of water, with no fish in it, and the people know there are no fish. At first, I thought it was crazy, but later, I realized that it was a way to relax in the hustle and bustle of a big Japanese city…

Covid

I don’t remember it word for word, but an outdoor writer once said in his column; “People often ask me what’s my favorite weather for fishing? I answer temperature in the low 70’s, sunny with a light breeze. Next they ask Do you catch any fish? And I answer Who cares?”

When I worked at Radio Shack, a guy asked for a cordless phone with a long range so he could take it when he went fishing in the brook behind his house. “I thought the reason you go fishing is to get away from the phone.”

The kinds of leisure time almost no longer in effect. Too many people, too many phones, too many noisy gobs and too few places like this one that have not been developed.

We used to live next a canal (more like a wide drainage ditch) that the storm drains emptied into. The canal had carp and catfish. I’d catch the carp for a little action and throw those babies back in. One time I caught a reasonably sized catfish that my wife insisted on cooking. I had no part in eating that. It’’s bad enough that those catfish are bottom feeders but you don’t want to imagine what they swam in. Unappetizing is putting it mildly.

It is called FISHING, not CATCHING.

I enjoy lounging around outdoors, but don’t need fishing gear as a reason. I’d probably have my sketchbook with me, and something to read, just so they’re there, but sitting and staring at nothing in particular is also good.

If I did have the fishing pole, and accidentally caught something, it would just be an annoying distraction to both me and the fish.

The worst day fishing is better than the best day working, unless you fish for a living…

Ain’t that the truth.

But it is a legitimate question.

It’s called fishing and not catching.

Once you discover that you don’t have to carry that awkward pole around, it’s simpler to enjoy Nature.

My former father in law (a nice guy) remarked one time upon seeing a bunch of fishing boats for hire in Pensacola, FL (God I do love that place) saying “oh look, they’re going deep sea drinking.”

Land or sea, it’s not about the fish is it?

You should have seen the one I let go.

Fishing is a line with a jerk on one end waiting for a jerk on the other.

“Angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.”― Samuel Johnson

My dad was an ocd fisherman, It wasn’t about dinner it was about the competition. We went to Canada fishing one year, and he had us record every fish that we caught in a fishing bible. At the end of 4 days. we had caught 387 northern pike. All documented. And if that wasn’t enough, we stopped at Yellowstone on theve way back and spent 2 days catching the most beautiful cutthroats you’ve ever seen. Fishing is a place of peacefulness, leave your phone in the car and enjoy the moment.

Never been a fan of fishing. But if you like it, good for you.

No need to invent the hook yet.

Give a man a fish and you’ve fed him for a day.

Teach a man to fish and you’ve given him a lifetime of excuses!

It doesn’t matter if you don’t catch one. It’s just being there that counts.