Better Days to Come

I've had a tough week and a half. The fishing has been sub par, a few things have gone wrong in my personal life that I won't divulge, and I've just gotten sick of it all. There was one afternoon that I spent on the water with a quiet light snow falling that was just wonderful, despite only one tiny brookie taking my fly. But other than that I've found little comfort or satisfaction.

I should have fished today, but I just couldn't get up the motivation to leave the house after the morning I had. It would seem that the opposite would be the case: that I'd solve life's stress simply by fishing. But it isn't that simple for me because I don't just fish to relax. I fish to learn, and today I just didn't feel like doing that learning out there. So I did a bit of work and then dove into wrasse identification studies, spurred on when a fellow multi-species angler, Roy Leyva, posted a photo of the prettiest puddingwife wrasse (Halichoeres radiatus) I've ever seen. I'll need to know these things because in a week I'll be in a place where catching new wrasse species is very probable. The study time was much needed but it failed to relax me. Since my last trip to Florida, I really have caught nothing here at home that excited me. No memorably colorful brook trout, no big browns, no fat largemouth through the ice... I feel like I've been dragging my feet, waiting for something special to happen.

That's not who I am. I don't wait for something special to happen. I buckle down and make it happen.

So... there are better days are to come. I know that because I will make them better. Tomorrow will be a much needed relief. And then early Christmas celebrations. Then Noah and I will go south to warmer weather and abundant, beautiful species both native and exotic invasive. It is going to be the best species hunting fishing trip of the year, likely of my life so far. I'm needing a trip like that in the worst way. I can't wait.

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Thanks for joining the adventure, and tight lines.