Two Things I have Learned about myself

My first striper from last spring

As I have said so many times on this blog, I love the time period from April 20- Memorial Day. There is so much to do. For years I have internally battled all the things that pull at me. Every day is a "what should I do today" and "but I haven't done (fill in trout fished, caught carp, or fished for stripers) in a week"). For the first time in years, I am at inner piece with my decisions.  I have come to two important conclusions.

( Before I go on, let me say, that having too many hobbies is a good thing, so yes, I know that my "problem" is nothing compared to real world shit.)

They are

1. It is okay if I change my mind on what I enjoy doing most. No one is asking me to stick to my guns.

2. Striper fishing is my favorite hobby. I love doing it more than just about anything.

Explanation

A few years back I got into trout fishing. If you read my blog, I was obsessed. I kept meticulous track of every fish. I knew how many I caught on Powerbait, fly rod, spoons, and spinners. I knew the exact number of each species. I tried to see how many different ponds I could catch them from. I had a streak going where I caught trout on 32 consecutive fishing trips. I even figured out how many trout I averaged per trip (ten/ trip in 2011) Trout fishing was new to me. I was so into it, I spent three and a half hours casting before I finally caught my first tiger trout. I wanted to learn everything I could and master the sport.

I know, nice laundry basket, right

 Two years ago, I participated in a three month carp tournament. I knew I couldn't win, but if I put in
enough time and caught a few good ones, I could place second. So that is what I did. During my favorite time period of the year, I carp fished A LOT. I gave up striper tides, I didn't go to the fly pond much. Almost all ( but not everyone) of my trips fishing were for carp. I really wanted that medal. Nothing mattered to me more than that tourney. I placed second, and am as proud of my effort as I am the actual medal. What I wanted to do most was carp fish. However, in the back of my mind, I was mad I didn't fish the good tides, On slow nights I wished I had the fast action of trout fishing.

Between carp, stripers, trout, birds, and hiking, I usually feel there isn't enough time for my passions. Then it occurred to me this year: do what makes you the most happy. If that changes and I want to do something else, go ahead, who cares.

Explanation of #2

What I have realized is, my favorite hobby is shore fishing for stripers (blues and albies). I can't just call this
"surf fishing" because I will gladly fish for stripers in downtown Providence. I'll fish for them in rivers and put my kayak in a salt pond. I also can't limit this to just stripers, because I love albies and won't walk away from blues either.

I really like catching carp. I truly enjoy casting my fly rod and having a fifteen inch rainbow almost pull my rod out of my hands, but I LOVE fishing the saltwater. I know some people scoff at catching schoolies, but I realized, I'd much rather catch small stripers than big trout ( not monster once in a lifetime trout, I'm not an idiot). As much as I like getting the bigger 14-16 inch trout, I'd rather chase 24 inch stripers with the hopes of a small keeper mixed in.

There is no place within an easy driving distance I'd rather be in September than the Narragansett Shore. If I had tickets to Patriots/ Broncos and the albies were in, I'd give them away. Many times I have shore fished from before sun up intil well past sundown, and those days still fly by.

Back here in the present month of May, that is still what I have been doing. I have been fishing for stripers most every day after work. I've gone carp fishing. I went trout fishing three nights in a row after work (catching 7,9,7) while the stripers were still only at the West Wall. I've had some really good nights, and I had two back to back skunkings last Friday and Saturday. Even getting skunked, and honestly, very frustrated the second night, I still wanted to fish for stripers.

Conclusion- I'm not going to tell you that I gave up fishing for carp and trout altogether. I'm still going to fish for both of them. I am going to concentrate on stripers, just because that is what I enjoy most. They are around in big numbers right now. Since I can striper fish every evening after work (a perk of being single) that is my focus. If I want to cast my fly rod at rising trout, I'll take a night off from my seven lined friends. On my days off, I am going to do a lot of birding during the day. Spring is by far the best time to see migrants. I will still find a day or two to fish for pre-spawn trophy carp, but most nights will find me breathing in salty air.

I doubt any of my present hobbies will over take my love of fishing for stripers, blues and albies but who knows. Maybe someday, maybe soon, I'll find another hobby that takes my attention away from standing in knee deep water with my eight foot surf rod bent. If that happens, I'll ride that wave. I'm allowed to change my taste if I desire.