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Posts: 1530
| how many of you guys notice the big picture.
all the nature around, otters, beavers, . if you look and observe.
what have you seen? |
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Posts: 1059
Location: Medford, WI | George...I think about the "big picture" every day...whether I'm on the water or sitting inside during the winter. Whenever I think about why I fish, that is exactly what comes to mind. Don't get me wrong...I love to catch fish as often as possible and that feeling is great; but if you're really only in it for the fish then something isn't right. There's something that being on the water brings out for me...so much that I could do it everyday from sunrise to sunset and never be bored.
As far as particular things I notice...I am in awe of every sunrise there is...that time of day is simply amazing. Animals always get my attention and the wind making those weird ripples that seem like it would have to be a fish are some of the main things that pop up in my mind right now. That, and just imagining a whole different world underneath the water that I'm fishing...thinking of how the fish/other species act...how the bottom got to be structured the way it is. (I know maybe a little weird, but hey)
I've always appreciated and agreeed with Henry David Thoreau's quote:
"Many men go fishing their entire lives without knowing it is not fish they are after."
-Jake Bucki
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Posts: 529
Location: Not Where I Want To Be | Well Said Jake. |
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Posts: 1120
Location: West Chester, OH | Not as famous as Thoreau, but my Dad often said "if our enjoyment of fishing was predicated solely on 'catching,' we'd have quit long ago."
I never tire of watching the peripherals while in the boat - eagles, deer, loons, etc.. On one occasion, I had a determined painted turtle chase my bait to the boat....twice. Skipped the figure 8 & spared him further aggravation by moving the boat.
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| Last month I got to witness a bull moose swimming across the lake. When it stepped on land I got to see how freakin tall those things really are in person. I'm going to be a lot more cautious towing the boat around in that area. It was the first moose I have ever seen and it was priceless. Those things can swim fast when they want to.....lol |
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Posts: 8788
| I try to enjoy the scenery as much as possible, but I've missed a few followups by doing so. Some interesting things I've seen on the water:
Had a loon go around on the 8 once. Scared the bejesus out of me.
I've also had a few turtles follow as well. They can move faster than you would think!
Seen few nice beavers, especially around the holiday weekends 
Quite a few deer, loons, and the occasional otter.
Perhaps the coolest was a juvenile Eagle that was sitting on a rock next to an island. Parents were nowhere in sight, we thought it might be injured because it had been sitting there for a few days. We decided to go rescue it and deliver it to a lady in town who rehabilitates wild animals. I was leary of this whole deal, but the guide I was fishing with insisted he had done this before. "I'm going to run the boat right up next to that rock. You distract it, I'll get behind it and throw my coat over it, and you grab it" he says... "As long as their head is covered and they can't see they're completely docile..."
Uhhh...
So we're getting closer to this Eagle, like a boat length away, and now that I see how big it is I'm thinking "crap, that thing is huge. Look at those talons. I don't think I want that thing in the boat, and I KNOW I don't want to be the guy who has to hold it down the whole way back to camp, either! Aw, crap, this is either going to be the coolest thing I've ever done or the stupidest!!
Luckily for us, when the moment of truth arrived, the Eagle flew off and landed on the island. Apparently there wasn't anything wrong with it, it just wasn't afraid of people. Got almost close enough to touch it. And that's close enough for me!
Edited by esoxaddict 12/16/2009 1:46 PM
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Posts: 941
Location: Freedom, WI | What Jake said plus when fishing with friends it just adds to it. |
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Posts: 97
Location: Pickering, ON | Love the big picture. Many don't understand the draw of fishing until they get out there and see how much more than just 'fishing' makes up the experience.
Being on the water is a spiritual experience, whether it is watching sunrise, sunset, a deer, a moose, a bear, fox, Osprey hunting, eagles and hawks, etc.
Esoxaddict - I had exactly the same thing happen to me. I had a loon come screaming in behind my lure on a spot where a 50lb'er had been netted in the spring. I nearly had a heart attack! I thought I was seeing the widest barred Muskie that ever lived!
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Location: Illinois | Oh sure, I recognize the beauty of the lakes I fish. Sometimes it's differs from place to place. Shelbyville, with it's sandy, eroded shores and standing timber. Hayward, with it's tall pines and abundant wildlife. Fox Chain, with it's plethera of scantily clad bikini babes, enebriated to the point of flashing....
We spend a lot of time chasing, and a little time catching, so we better take something from the experience other than sore backs and muskies caught! |
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Posts: 426
Location: Perryville, MO | This year my grandson and I were fishing a large cove. He asked what the large wake swimming at us was. Didn't see it at first, but then I realized he was looking some two-hundered yards away. A large white-tail. Never realized how much of their body stays above the water. She kept coming our way. We set down our rods and quietly watched. She got within ten yards and I tried to slowly step on the trolling motor to move out of her path. Unfortunately it was enough to spook her...I don't think she had seen us even though she was about to swim directly into the boat. Man was my grandson ticked when I spooked her (he didn't say anything, but just gave me a look). She turned 90 degrees and headed for shore. Her orginal direction would have taken her out to the main lake with at least a mile swim to go (probably more much more). It all happened just as the sun was ready to set and the good Lord was painting the sky with marvelous colors...we sat quiet for several more minutes without so much as picking-up our rods for last 20 minutes of dynamite fishing. Then the best part: my grandson with a few words so much as told me that he was now a serious outdoors man...not just looking for the next kill or catch...he said, "Grandpa, this is why we come out here, isn't?" |
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Posts: 91
Location: Pinckney, Michigan | I've had similar experiences as many above. Some great sunrises and sunsets, dive bombing eagles and ospreys, pileated woodpeckers, deer swimming to a large island, beavers playing tug of war over a small birch tree, loons carrying their babies on their back. All of this while musky fishing.
This past summer I was fishing on the Michigan/Wisconsin border. We were fishing a chain of lakes. An Osprey nest was nestled atop a 50' tree on a very small island. While the mom went out for food we must have witnessed the nestling's first flight. What a great site! Like a plane flying along and then suddenly sputtering, losing altitude, then regaining composure.
Those experinces are why I try to make it north atleast once per year. Nothing like it. |
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Posts: 121
| mostly I just stare at the sonar screen and think about old girlfriends. |
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| A young antlered buck coming down through tall grass to drink at lakeside.
Three ducks following a river otter in train.
An osprey coming down like a lightening bolt to take a catfish out of dark, shallow water.
A jumping--yes, jumping--beaver.
A snapping turtle carefully pruning a small catfish for the table; and then threatening a big channel cat who wants a piece of the feed.
Four big fish--muskies?--up on the surface swimming in school.
Won't forget. |
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | Almost everyday. The LOTWs is one of the seven wonders of the world. Doug Johnson |
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Posts: 2361
| Cast - 12/16/2009 5:33 PM
A young antlered buck coming down through tall grass to drink at lakeside.
Three ducks following a river otter in train.
An osprey coming down like a lightening bolt to take a catfish out of dark, shallow water.
A jumping--yes, jumping--beaver.
A snapping turtle carefully pruning a small catfish for the table; and then threatening a big channel cat who wants a piece of the feed.
Four big fish--muskies?--up on the surface swimming in school.
Won't forget.
I've seen those four big fish, up on the surface swimming in a school, and they were.......well, you're right, they were possibly muskies, why ruin a thing like the "big picture". |
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Posts: 283
Location: beloit | I saw this in 2008 and I will never forget it
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Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | Do I notice the "big picture"? ABSOLUTELY. Were it not for all that which is beyond our qaurry of fish, fowl, or game I'd lose interrest in a split second.
Karl
Edited by KARLOUTDOORS 12/17/2009 12:56 AM
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Posts: 1289
Location: WI | It's one of the main reasons I go out there. Here's a bear on the Chip this past august.
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Posts: 633
| I always take in the big picture. I don't eat fish, so when I go out, I am just out there to relax. If I catch a fish it is bonus. I have seen lots of great loon, deer, eagles, and other animals. I have seen many great sunrises, and sunsets. I tell people it is the Gilligan Island moments. No phone, no TV, no worries. Beautiful scenery, be it animals, landscape, or bikini's. It doesn't matter it is all good. I try to teach that to my kids. When on vacation I can sit in the boat while the kids catrch fish, and see young loon families swimming near the boat. Stop the boat so my wife can take pictures of lillypad flowers. Fishing is great. Catching is fun. Doing both is awesome.
Lance |
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Posts: 425
Location: Roseau | I didnt take the photo but it isnt far from out cabin on LOTW.
Wish I could have been there to see him!!
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Posts: 620
Location: Seymour, WI | I notice all the wildlife while I'm hunting and fishing and have seen some really cool things, it really adds to the overall experience.
But I also notice that I just plain feel better after I get done hunting or fishing. After chucking baits all day long or sitting out in the woods all day ong I get a peaceful feeling that I call "the good tired".
Grass, |
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Posts: 2361
| That deer is hard to count, 14? |
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