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Location: SE Wisconsin | You know, as the days grow longer for those of us still waiting for our season opener, all we can do is talk and think about musky. I won't make this a habbit, nore do I know if this is the place for this, but here's one last short piece I wrote to remind myself why I'm constantly checking these boards for new discussions and new opinions.
There On That Water
By: Sam Ubl
There’s a certain subtlety to that first drop of rain, much the same as there is to the quiet ripple of a diving loon on a glassy morning. There on that water you call your favorite Northwood’s lake is a place where you blend in. Your surroundings are blind to all things material beyond that gravel door step the map calls a boat landing, and you’re floating in your element - literally.
Visiting forum websites where musky anglers alike are brought together to discuss opinions and tactics reveal the individuality of nearly everyone, yet on the entity where “Sink or Swim” is derived from, we musky fishermen find common ground. There on that water, differences roll off our shoulders like those subtle rain drops on a ducks back and we become fraternal.
I’ve been asked why I love this sport as much as I do, where occasionally the “asking” is more like “questioning”. Unless you live the life of a musky hunter, how can you honestly relate? To those who have never taken a liking to fishing, or to those who haven’t been blessed with the opportunity to experience it, my answer seems like a made up fairy tale where everything is made to sound like a masterful painting or what falling in love feels like. Indeed, I do lose myself in my answer to such inquiries, so much so that my words rest in their minds about as long as stirred up silt in heavy river current. To another connoisseur of this nature, however, my words are no longer mine, rather, a shared deliverance of truth.
Art comes in many forms, whether it be on canvas, in a photo or all things natural. To a musky fisherman, art is constituted by a plethora of images that could populate an infinite slideshow. From the short-lived mist exhaled from the baitcaster as you or your partner thumb the wet line on a cast, to the nature surrounding or the sparkle on your boat; each day on the water is a memory made and a mental canvas painted. There on that water, spray paint doesn’t stick and cars don’t float. There on that water is a second home.
Edited by Sam Ubl 4/16/2009 2:00 PM
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Location: SE Wisconsin | Does anyone think a sportsman's life has time shaved off as we are constantly look forward to that next season? I mean, the moment the lakes ice up I'm already impatiently waiting for opening day of the fishing season. Sure there's deer season (bow/gun) to pass some of that cold time up, but I think I'm making my point.
Edited by Sam Ubl 4/16/2009 11:42 PM
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Posts: 8772
| I know one thing. It's been 35 years since I threw my first cast, and I still look forward to the next one. Life for me is hectic enough where winter is gone before I know it, so the off season doesn't seem as long as it is. But the minute I get out there in the spring, and watch that first cast hit the water, it's like I never left. And there's something about being in a place where little changes, where the water is still there, the downed timber is still there, the reefs and rock bars are still there, right where you left them last year, and the year before, and the year before that. |
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Location: SE Wisconsin | That's what it's all about. . Whether your days are hectic and seem to just whisp away, or you wish you could rush time to get to the days you've been waiting for. . . when you're on the water, time slows down.
Edited by Sam Ubl 4/16/2009 3:14 PM
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Posts: 392
Location: lake x...where the hell is it? | time never goes slow enough when i am fishing. it seems to just fly by. 10 hours seems like 10 min. to me but another great story, can u do one once a week? there great, good job man!!!! and i seen your pic in the new musky shop catalog, nice fish. how'd you get in it? |
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Location: SE Wisconsin | I submitted that picture to John via email, he was king enough to have plugged it.
. . . Weird how time parallels itself like that. It's a relief when you get out, but it never really does last long enough.
Thanks for the kind words by the way.
Edited by Sam Ubl 4/16/2009 3:45 PM
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Posts: 158
| I really hear what you are saying Sam. I sometimes feel like I am wasting half of my life waiting for the season to open. It is something to be on the water 3-7 days a week for six months, then Dec comes and it's like, ummm, what do 'normal' people do after work!!!! Dec to June is just sooo long and I can only sharpen my hooks so much! Thankfully we have made it to April and I will have wet line in Iowa within a couple weeks. My boat is fresh out of storage and is just guzzling power as we speak.
Good Luck, TB |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | that's so sweet i think i want to throw up |
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Posts: 1451
Location: Kronenwetter, WI | That''s why I'm setting my retirement goals as having a place in Florida (gulf side) for the winters and spend summers up here---12mo of fishing...only 20 more years to go! |
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Posts: 909
| Sled, You got a way with words Dude! LMAO! Thats story is DEEP, I like it!
Brian |
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Posts: 999
| Very cool write Sam! Reminds me of Gordon McQuarrie's writings.
Mr Musky
Edited by Mr Musky 4/17/2009 5:57 AM
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