My father has been taking me fishing since I was four years old. I am now 24 and I have had the
opportunity to catch squid, lobster and longline bottom fish off Nova Scotia. I have gone for
Tarpon in Florida. I've caught lake trout, landlocked salmon and pike in Lake Champlain (I was the only student in college with a boat). And finally, salt and freshwater fishing around LI. The funny thing is I don't eat fish.
Fishing is a great way for my father and I to spend time together (even if we argue for a good
portion of it). He taught me everything I know and now the student has surpassed the master
LOL. However, every once in a while I am humbled by dad again to remind me where I came from. It is a fun competition.
Granted, most anyone can go out and drift a piece of bait and will eventually catch a fish. Some
people are happy like that. I look at fishing like hunting. I go out and try to target a species and then I spend a lot of time trying to learn about that fish (location, baits, currents, weather, etc). Once I can produce fish consistently, their habits change, and the fun starts over again. It is a challenging sport that requires a certain amount of luck, but also requires skills that an angler can
develop.
For 18 years we fished out of a 16 foot semi-dory (a glorified row boat). This year my father
bought a 21 foot center console, which has greatly increased our available fishing days. This is the first year I got to fish off-shore and the November striper run. I got to catch my first tuna and mahi, and we had a great November run. This is also the first year I have been into surfcasting.
While I still do the majority of my fishing from the boat, surfcasting is my favorite method. To
see a fish swirl before striking a pencil popper swishing back and forth is AWESOME. Bait
fishing is fun because it produces and you still get to fight the fish, but nothing can beat the feel of a strike while retrieving a lure.
Two weeks ago, I took five people fishing over three trips and had more fun watching them catch
their first stripers then I had catching them. I fish because fishing brings together family,
challenges skills, constantly learning new things, get to teach others, keeps me out of the bars on Friday and Saturday nights (trouble) and it is another form of my skills verses nature. And this is only my third favorite thing on the list in the other discussion.