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When I saw this article I immediately thought of my Viner friend American Republic! He's been posting some pictures and writing about his recent fishing trips and how therapeutic it is for him. Here is an example of someone taking the gifts of fishing and passing them on to children who can also benefit from the lessons.
I thought this was a very positive story. My ex-husband was an avid fisherman and taught me how to fish. I had grown up fishing with my Grandpa but my ex taught me techniques I could use that would allow catch and release. When we lived in the Colorado Springs CO area, we use to go fishing at the lakes on Pikes Peak a lot, the Air Force Academy and so many other places. When we fished there, we would catch brown and rainbow trout. The latter always seemed to be a fragile fish. We tried fly fishing but he showed me a technique that allowed for the fly fishing experience but you could use a regular fishing reel. (Fishing reels were his "jewelry". When I was buying diamonds he was buying expensive fishing rods and reels.)
The technique involved buying clear bobbers that you put water in to adjust how high or low you want to fish. He would tie a little more than an arms length of fishing line to the end of the bobber and then would tie on fly appropriate to the time and place we were fishing. We were both very successful using this technique! I still would fly fish with a rod for that once and awhile but mostly used the other technique and the technique worked on no matter what kind of water or fish we were trying to catch. The technique worked in Colorado and also worked in Florida when we moved there.
Since the divorce, I haven't really fished as I no longer have him to "drag" me out. We use to spend some VERY long days out by the shores. I usually got bored at a point and would take it apon myself to grab a garbage bag and scour the shore for discarded tangles of fishing line and garbage. Never left with an empty bag! My favorite memories were in Colorado. When we'd go up on Pikes Peak, I had my red baseball cap visited by a curious hummingbird during a nap (man I slept good up there - so peaceful and the lack of oxygen helped lol) and I saw some of the most breathtaking sights I ever have. My ultimate dream would someday be able to afford to go back and live there! It was getting pretty crowded when we left there just after 9/11 happened so I don't know if the same quality of life exists there. Ironically a beautiful place doesn't stay beautiful the more admirers it gets.
Anyhew - this is for you AmericaRepublic (and other fisher folk out there). There are people spreading the good word to our future generations. Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and they will eat for a lifetime.
