Solitude

I have been fishing almost every night. However I am in winter mode. This means I am fishing the same spot every night at roughly the same time. There is only so many times I can write I caught seven fish or one fish at the same place. So instead of writing that I thought I would write about some of the things that have been on my mind. Most of these are just thoughts others could be classified as rants. This first paragraph will be the heading of all these "editorials"  Tonight's subject is solitude and fishing alone.

I make no secret that I have no issues fishing by myself. I also have written many posts about fishing with fishing buddies. I want to make it clear I enjoy fishing with other people. This is not me being a recluse or snubbing my nose at friends. Some of my best fishing memories are with my son or friends.  This post is not in any way me saying I would rather fish by myself for the rest of my life.  I just don’t mind fishing alone, that is all.

I know people that do not like to fish by themselves. Sometimes they stay home because they don’t have anyone to fish with. I am not bashing anyone by saying that, I just do not understand this philosophy. Why anyone would choose not to fish because they don’t have someone to go with is beyond my comprehension. I guess they need the company for a long ride. Maybe they feel the need someone to see the fish if they catch one. Maybe they feel it’s more fun to catch fish with someone else (it is more fun). These are all justifiable arguments. Long rides do suck, having someone see your catch does verify it, and yes two people catching fish is more fun.

I just don’t understand why these reasons would keep a person from doing things they enjoy alone. I have given deep thought to this. I know I am not a hermit, I know I enjoy company. I also know I need more alone time than the average person. I would say it’s because I deal with a lot of people at work every day. That theory is thrown out the window because I was like this as a kid. Even then I would fish by myself. I’d take my dog for a walk just to “get away.”

So I don’t worry about being alone for extended periods. I know this is surprising, but I really do not get lonely. In 2010, I took a trip alone to Shenandoah National Park. I was gone for eight days. Of course I missed my son, but he was with his mom that week either way. I hiked every day for about ten miles. I watched deer and stopped at Antietam on my ride home. The trip itself was a great vacation

Why do I even bring up such a boring subject about whether I fish alone or not? Just because people tell me all the time they would never take a trip alone. Girls at work ask me all the time if I am afraid to camp by myself. Even my boss tells me I should carry a gun.

A typical Monday conversation at work will go like this

Girl-“What did you do?”

Me – “I went to Narragansett Thursday night fished till I couldn’t stand. Drove my car to a spot I could sleep. Woke up about sunrise and fished all day.”

Girl- “Who did you go with?”

Me “No one”

Then they ask me if I got bored spending all that time by myself instead of asking the more important question “how was the fishing?”

   When I have a day off during warm weather, I plan long distance marathon fishing excursions. During the spring I went to Wachusetts Reservoir a couple times. I drove to the Outer Cape to trout fish Nickerson State Park. Of course I did some all-nighters sleeping in Narragansett this fall. When driving so far away I like to make the trip as worthwhile as possible. Since gas is outrageous, I make a whole day of it. Sometimes I am gone from sun up till way past sundown. Honestly, I know very few people that enjoy fishing for eight to twelve hours. So instead of convincing someone to go, I just go alone.

It works out more often than not. When I went to Nickerson, I caught one trout and one small pickerel in five hours. I left and headed home. I decided to stop and fish a pond along the way. I caught twenty six trout there. It would have been very hard to convince anyone to try that pond after 5 hours of almost nothing. Going alone means you make decisions that only affect yourself.

Last winter while fishing for stripers, I would go for a couple hours even if the fish weren’t biting if I was alone. I went many times with a friend and he was always ready to leave before me. I would give in after ten minutes and take off after only an hour or so. Since this spot is about 20 minutes from home but we usually got in traffic, I spent as much time driving as I did fishing. One night it was cold, raw and wet, I decided to go alone because of the weather. Dave was fishing there and we got talking and lost track of time. After two and a half hours we only had one fish each. We were working our way back to our cars ready to leave, then they really turned on. We both caught over ten fish. Dave caught at least three keepers and I got one 31 inches while using my trout rod. The point of the story is, if I went with my friend, I’d have been home an hour and a half before the fish even started hitting.

One last example, when I go to New Hampshire alone, I have to deal with a three hour drive each way. To be honest the ride there I am jacked up and it flies by. The ride home is tough. I stop at the rest area sixty miles from the MA/NH border and buy a couple sodas. I never drink caffeine, so I get high from the soda, at least enough to keep me awake.  When I go to New Hampshire by myself, I spend the whole day going from pond to pond. I will get up around five am and fish till the fish stop hitting flies after dark. To me this is a great day, but I couldn’t even convince my son to do that. When he goes up with me, we do a lot more hiking. We will climb a mountain or hike to a waterfall. This is also great and I can enjoy mountain top views for hours. Two different types of trips, both great, just different memories.

So I guess the point of this post is just to separate the two points of view of spending time alone fishing or in the woods or needing someone to go with. I guess part of it is feeling comfortable alone. At many places I go, if I got hurt there would be little help for hours. The surf in the middle of the night can be a desolate place. I also think part of it is confidence. You need confidence in yourself to sleep in the woods for a couple days or fish big waves.. You need to know what you are doing (how to set up a tent, pack a back pack, stay dry, etc.) You only get that confidence from experience. I also think some of it is being male. I know girls that tell me they would be scared to be alone in the woods. I guess I see there point. Yet I see girls jogging alone in Providence after dark a lot and I think cities would be scarier than any fuzzy black bear.