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| On this and other sites I look at, I often see people wondering what can be done to improve the future of the sport, often followed by a complaint about how other people are somehow ruining their fishing.
So now I'm going to tell a story.
As a child I was fortunate to have two older gentlemen who loved to take me fishing for pike and musky. Musky. That fish was held in a sort of reverence by them, you could just tell it by the way they talked.
Now these old guys came from a different generation. They had lived through the depression, and I know that when times were toughest they had been forced to fish to help put food on the table. Its just the way things were, and they couldn't really understand catch and release any more than they could understand why people would invest in the stock market.
But that in no way undermines their love and respect for the fish.
Just as equal to that was the enjoyment they got out of seeing other people getting that big pike or musky. I remember the smiles on the old men's faces just as surely as they remembered mine. These were truly some of the best people I have ever met.
They taught me much about fish location, how speed can be a trigger, and how prey location can help find fish. They also thought you only needed three lures in your tackle box. And you never told anyone else exactly where you caught those fish.
These men were not verbose or eloquent, but they were able to communicate their passion for these fish effectively. They wanted to see people out there enjoying themselves and to pass on their knowledge and respect for the outdoors to others. Times have changed, we now understand the importance of conservation and catch and release.
Ultimately, though, I think we need more people like those old men. People that understand that musky are a sport fish, not an endangered species or deity. Most importantly, though, is that genuine desire to see people out there having fun, both now and in generations down the road.
Thats my 2 cents |
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Posts: 2361
| So, would we call this a guest lecture?
It'll grow some corn for sure... |
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| Guess you just can't digest that kernel.. |
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Posts: 132
Location: Missouri | Moral = Take a kid fishin! |
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| Actually, the moral was being genuinely interested in other people and their experience could be beneficial when it comes to selling people on getting involved with the issues that affect all of us.
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Posts: 132
| Wow! That's deep. |
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Posts: 538
Location: northern indiana | If you can afford to Musky fish these days, then I'm sure you can afford to eat. Just my .02 |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | WD,
If that has to be explained to you, you need to better understand folks who lived through the Great Depression.
'Times have changed, we now understand the importance of conservation and catch and release.'
Guest, point well taken... by some of us at least. |
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| Yeah.....I get it. I wish more would understand your point. Too much of what you say has been lost in our modern world. |
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Location: Downers Grove, IL | Great post and perspective, Guest. |
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| Well said!! |
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Posts: 910
Location: South-Central VA | Great read. Great post.
jeremy |
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| I think the the lesson here is we all make an impression with whomever we interact with. Good or bad, that impression affects us throughout our lives. Makes me wonder how many of us, in our zest to promote healthy fisheries, are leaving a bad impression on others. And how that bad impression likely has the opposite result of what we intended... |
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| sworrall - 10/17/2011 4:49 PM
WD,
If that has to be explained to you, you need to better understand folks who lived through the Great Depression.
So how was it, Steve??? |
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Posts: 32910
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | According to my great grandmother, grandmother and grandfather, darned tough. They lived in the dust bowl, and had one heck of a time making ends meet. Nothing that could be utilized to make a meal went to waste, and the habit of making sure the larder was as full as possible went long and died hard.
I get that. I raised a big family with 6 kids, and feeding them wasn't always easy at times and was darned tough for a couple years. I still look longingly at a 25" pike during the ice season, but if there's one in the freezer or already enough for a meal on the ice, it goes back. Still a twinge there....and I didn't EVER have it anywhere near as tough as the folks mentioned above.
Question answered?
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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | If I had to live/feed my family off the land or water, we'd all be really, really, skinny. Or worse.
Kevin |
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| I too was schooled by an older gentleman who did not have to technological advances that we have today.
I was fortunate to grow up spending my summers in Northern Wisconsin.
The older gentlemen was the first to put a cane pole in my hands and taught me how to catch pan fish when I was 5. He was also the guy to put a Zebco 33 in my hand and taught me how to rig a night crawler for Walleye when I was 7. He was also the guy that let me tie his mepps Musky Killer to that same Zebo 33 and cast it off the dock thinking I would not catch anything only to run down to the dock and watch my line break when I hook my first muskie.. From there the rest is history.
That old gentlemen was my dad. Unfortnualtey he is no longer with me in person
but not a day goes by that I dont think of him. He was with me when I finally caught my first musky and I was with him when he caught his last.
When he died he was cremated and I took some of his ashes with me on our annual fall musky hunt. I did not know if I could or when I would deposit my portion of his ashes in the lake we grew up fishing, I guess you would say I was waiting for a sign. On a bueatiful fall musky morning, cold weather, fog, the sun trying to break through the coulds and some rain, all of the sudden two rainbows appeared and with that I knew it was time. Over the course of the remaing days when we fished that part of the lake we caught a 47. 44 and 46 everytime I looked up and winked.....
Before we know it we will all be old pass it on
Tight Lines |
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Posts: 617
Location: Clintonville, WI | I always enjoyed guest lecturers 
Too bad the muskie gestapo won't get it (or don't care). |
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Posts: 1224
Location: Okoboji | BigMo - 10/18/2011 8:17 PM
I always enjoyed guest lecturers
Too bad the muskie gestapo won't get it (or don't care ).
muskie gestapo lol! |
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Posts: 7059
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Request from the (Jewish) Moderator: can we NOT use words like Gestapo or Nazi to describe people who are a bit past the point of nice? |
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Posts: 32910
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Seconded. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | i'm feeling the urge to hold hands and sing a song on a grassy flat near a snow-capped mountaintop ...
Edited by jonnysled 10/19/2011 2:50 PM
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| Maybe "zealot" is a better word?  |
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Posts: 366
| Times have simply changed. Instead of the struggle to provide food for one's family/children, the struggle is now about providing the knowledge and experience of muskie fishing and the outdoors to one's family/children. Unfortunately, the side-effect of providing food for the family through muskies on the table reduced and completely eliminated their presence from many areas in the U.S. The fight against one’s right to kill and keep muskies is about providing and protecting the resource for current and future generations of muskie anglers whom may not even be born yet, and not to keep people from being able to smile at the muskies they catch.
I have countless fond memories of my childhood and the mentors I had in and out of muskie fishing. My grandfather taught me so much about fishing that I will always be grateful for. He doesn’t understand why I often choose to release fish these days. He also often mentions how the fishing isn’t what it used to be.
Ryan
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Posts: 556
| First off Gotta say I have enjoyed the stories posted above. Learned to fish from my father also--and although he is still here at 86 he doesn't get a chance to fish anymore due to some health issues. He still lives on the lake and enjoys it when others come and visit and fish. loves the stories and sharing his methods and favorite fishing spots from the past. Yes times were different and he still sometimes wonders why we release all species of fish. Back in his day you fished for food first and enjoyment of the outdooe experience second. Today it is the opposite for almost all of us. I enjoy the way it is today and raised both my boys on almost total catch and release. Keep a few pannies for a meal now and then but otherwise just enjoy the experience. It's all they know so I am sure they will pass it along. And I am fortunate that I can buy whatever I want to eat right in town so we have no reason to kill more game or fish then what we may need for a couple meals a year. |
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Posts: 81
| Yes I also enjoyed these stories and brings back some distant memories of when I learned to fish in PA and Canada. Being one of 9 children(6 boys & 3 girls) times weren't always easy in our house, especially with food. Deer and mom's garden mainly feed us but when it came to fish, pike and trout were on the dinner table the most. However the most memorable event was when the paradigm shift occurred from eating fish to releasing fish. In 1987-88, my older brother, at about the age of 12, told dad we should start releasing pike so they could get bigger. This did not go over well with dad and that day my brother released 3 pike up to 42''. Never forget my dad's pleas to keep some since we weren't getting anything! He was mad! After that year we released most of our pike, but took dad longer to eventually catch on, which was until we started catching bigger pike! Although, until the day he passed, he joked that the bigger pike were due to us just becoming better anglers!!!! He was proud of us and I am sure he is keeping all the pike he could eat now! Fast forward to this past weekend, when my twin boys(2 1/2 y.o.) caught some beautiful, thick crappies and I asked them if we should keep them to eat (they looked good). One of them says "No, let them grow!" My old man is laughing at me now!
Edited by NCmusky 10/20/2011 10:53 AM
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