I first went fishing when my grandfather gave me his old rod. He gave it to me because he no longer had a boat and no longer had any inclination to go fishing. I fact he gave me two rods, a light bait-casting rod and a very long bamboo fly rod. He also gave me a few spoons and took me out to the sound and taught me to cast. I was about 14 years old and thought it was pretty cool to get a rod, but didn't really know what I was doing.
I took up fishing again much later, in my late 30s. I went away for a long weekend up north with some friends and we happened to do some fishing. I had bought a terrible rod at a big box store and it broke within a few casts. I was lucky enough to have a friend who lent me one of his rods for the rest of the weekend and I loved the challenge of trying to get a fish to bite on the various presentations we made.
Since then, angling has become almost an obsession. From saltwater bait casting with a 5/0 hook and a chunk of mackerel to dry fly fishing on a tiny stream for trout, I love everything about this hobby. I've made plugs, tied flies, I continually research fish behaviour and habitat, and I'm continually looking for the next stream, pond, river or lake to explore and find fish in.
This blog will be about just about anything related to angling. I don't get to go fishing as much as I'd like to, and I'm certainly no expert on angling, but when I started, I found that there was a lot of talk about fishing that made no sense to me because it presumed a thorough knowledge of fishing terms. Fishing magazines seem to assume that everyone loves fishing and hunting, and that everyone has an unlimited budget and 40 weeks of vacation dedicated to go fishing. I will be writing from a more realistic point of view, my own. I will fish locally, and when I go on vacation, it will be with my wife (who has no interest in fishing), so fishing will be a part of most vacations, but not the main goal. I hope to discover that it is possible to have a lot of fun fishing locally, and that fishing on a budget can be very rewarding.
In my presentations, I'd like to think that I may help someone else just starting out in this beautiful hobby.
