[Topsail Angler]

Below are some excerpts from my weekly newspaper article - as I stress out getting ready for a tournament this week-end - I was reminded of this recent article.....


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Long sunny days and a shift in the prevailing winds to the southwest have combined to warm up our coastal waters. The strength of the wind also is beginning to generally let up. Of course this all translates into great fishing weather!


This past Saturday morning I headed out very early to fish just off the beaches for bonito and Spanish mackerel. I only had a few hours as I had a prior commitment later in the morning that I had to keep. Even though my schedule was tight, I wanted to “sneak in” what may have been my last chance for Bonito this season. I had stressed and contemplated if the trip was worth it and ultimately decided to make the short trip.


Under near perfect conditions I left the dock before dawn. As I arrived on station to fish, the seas where calm and there was only a slight breeze. Just as I was putting out my trolling lines, the edge of that bright orange ball we call our sun began to appear on the horizon.


Something clicked in my head, causing me to stop for a moment and watch the sun as more and more of it lifted above the horizon. Stop and smell the roses I thought, well at least the salt air. Pause, enjoy this moment I thought.


Not that I expected it to be the last time I experienced this scene as it is one repeated over and over again for those of us that live here. Nor did I expect some epiphany that would change my life forever. But rather because something had clicked in that fuzzy space I call a brain, I realized just what it was about fishing I enjoyed the most. Sure chasing fish and trying to put a few in them in cooler is fun. But as I watched the sun rise, it made me realize that it was the relaxation and peacefulness that I enjoy the most about fishing.


In fact through out my life, whenever I have a big decision to make or I’m really stressed out, I try to go fishing to relax and clear my mind. I started this practice when I was a young teenager at my grandparent’s farm pond and continued it on the beaches of our coast and elsewhere.


So next time I start to stress about where to catch fish, when, how or whatever, I hope that moment resurfaces in my mind, that my brain clicks again and I remember why I fish in the first place…… to relax and enjoy!