I Killed My Last Bear

So it's Friday night and I am gearing up for fishing tomorrow. We leave at 4:45am and blogging is the last thing I really should be doing right now. In a way it is my new approach, I am trying to slow myself down and relax everything about me more, starting with something like this so it will eventually slow down my casting. Anymore I am frantically trying to cover water in an effort to make up for lost time. I used to fish 300+ days a year during college. Now I have a wonderful family and beautiful mortgage. I'll admit, I don't fish as much as I used to.

Anyway, my Beulah demo rod broke two weeks ago on a fish at the Berry. I paid a little in an upgrade fee with it's "lifetime warranty" for replacement. They said that rod had a particular flaw in the wrap on the lowest piece at the male ferrule, and that is exactly where it broke . It was effortless to cast... until those first fateful seconds of hook-up with a real fish. Today, I received a remarkable set-up in return from them. We'll see how it fishes tomorrow but it sure looks amazing.

As I was gearing up I ran across an older can of smokeless tobacco with just a pinch left. I spent over a decade being heavily addicted and now in my later years I want to quit. With the help of the patch (and a secret weapon) I have been getting better. This last old can was thrown away empty tonight. Tomorrow is a new day, but tonight I have killed my last bear for quite awhile.

It's 15 minutes later and I just went through every bag, small medium and large- from Alice pak in OD Geen to my fancy fishing sling dealio (I removed myself from the fly-fishing vest of our grandfather's long ago). I found another can. I scraped it and threw it away empty. I think I have gathered every big leechy and roe-esque thing I have in my arsenal. The older flies are soaking in garlic... (ahem, just to remove any rusty hook smell).

The handheld CB's are charging. I grabbed the power inverter for charging waterproof digital camera's battery. The charger is at Todd's and my battery is dead. Although I have so much crap I think I am only fishing with a small Columbia chestpack, the
mini and a flask. And, of course I'll take my secret weapon.

I tend to recall that gearing up was simpler back in the day when I fished more. It was a combination of being more ready (because I just went days, or even hours, before) as well as having a lot less gear- I just had the basics back then. And, it definitely seems like I caught more fish back then- but maybe my fish tales have just come to life in the present. I'll let you know how the secret weapon fares for me. I am always
excited about experimenting. That is the true joy I find in Winter Steelhead.