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It’s almost like the anticipation of Christmas or your birthday when you are heading out fishing with new lures in your bag. Even if the fishing has been slow lately, I still get excited about trying out the new lures. It’s like when you buy a scratch off ticket or lottery ticket. There’s a high probability that you won’t hit the jackpot or pick all of the winning numbers, but somehow I still get giddy and excited in anticipation. That’s the same feeling I get with casting out a new lure. “This lure is going to catch the big one.”

And then nothing, no bites, not hits, no nothing. But unlike a losing lottery ticket, I can attribute the bad fishing to time of day,pressure fronts or perhaps the retrieve. I’m never disappointed in not getting action with a new lure. Perhaps tomorrow the lure will work. At least I have a new lure. Now time to get another new lure and try it out. Fishermen don’t quit. We keep buying and buying and buying new lures and bait until we hit the jackpot. Is there a Fishermens Anonymous like there is a Gamblers Anonymous? I might have a problem.

“Just one more fish, then I’ll head home.” How many times have we all said that. Is it an addiction or an appreciation and love of fishing? I would say the latter, while my wife would say an addiction. Even when we do catch that “one more fish”, we start over again and say “just one more fish and then I’ll go home.” When does it end? Usually when it gets dark, too cold to hold the rod or your significant other calls you asking when you’re coming home.

But what if that next fish is the big one? What if this whole time you’ve been fishing in the wrong spot and if you go down the shore a little bit rather than heading home, you snag that big one? What if you change your lure and go smaller? Will that entice the “just one more fish” to bite?

You may never know unless you go by the rule of “just one more fish”. Maybe you should switch from your spinning rod to a fly rod. Maybe a clouser minnow on a fly rod will get that big small mouth to bite. You know he’s down there. You anticipate him biting everytime you reel in your line but he doesn’t bite. You don’t get frustrated, you just get more curious as to what that fish is thinking. Sure, your supper is getting cold and your wife is getting perturbed but there’s a big fish down there and you’ve got to catch him. Fret not, as fishermen we’re all in the same boat and we understand our love which others may call a disease or addiction. It’s the joy of fishing. It’s the excitement of the hunt for the big one and it’s just one more fish.

On my fishing bench in my garage I’ve got tackle, fly tying supplies, different spools of fishing lines, nets, fishing gear, assorted tackle boxes, disembodied soft plastic lizards and worms my daughter got a hold of, a bunch of fishing books and my Grandfather’s old wooden lures. My fishing bench is a nice visual timeline of the old days of fishing to the modern “can never have enough gear” days of today. While I’m not about to throw out all my cool gear, I do sometimes wonder how it was back then.

Back then, a man just needed a fishing rod and reel and some lures. It didn’t matter what brand or how many bearings his reel had (I’m guessing anywhere from one to none at all). He didn’t polarized sunglasses or a state-of-the-art fish system to track the barometric pressure, the fish, the topography and probably his car keys if he looses them. Nope. A fisherman just needed his rod and reel and some lures. And the lures were just simple wood carved pieces painted with hooks attached. They’re really quite beautiful lures and judging by the wear on them, I’d say they were also very popular with the fishes. But when you think of it, fishing really hasn’t changed that dramatically, it’s just become more commercialized. We still use a rod and a reel and we still use the style of lures they used back then like crankbaits and top waters, but the lure selection has increased dramatically and the choice in rods and reels has done the same.

The other day, my son had a piece of bamboo and wanted to make a fishing pole out of it. So I got some monofilament and tied it to the end of the stick and tied on a Wooly Bugger fly. We took it down to the lake and he tossed it out and pulled it back to shore. We didn’t catch anything but I’m sure eventually a little bluegill would have bit it and we would have had success with the most simplest of tools. An old cane pole and a Folgers coffee can full of worms, do I miss those times? Not really. But every once in a while, it’s kind of nice to think about and perhaps step down to. I think the reason so many people go fishing is because of the peace and quiet and how relaxing it is. Beneath all the shiny new gear and technology is really a simple sport that has brought joy to fishermen for centuries. So they next time, you’re cursing at your tangled line on your carbon-graphite, 300-bearing reel; take a deep breathe and appreciate the fact that you’re fishing. You can always get a better reel, but you can’t get a better past-time than fishing. Enjoy it and happy fishing.