Regression to the Mean

Things always average out appropriately in the end, and last weekend's much-better-than-average fishing was subject, and vulnerable, to correction.  I just didn't think the correction would necessarily be this immediate.

I had blocked off a few dates on my calendar to accommodate (a) trip(s) to Lake St. Clair.  But with such good fishing so close to home, my thoughts had shifted to Reeds Lake and the local advantage I'd been enjoying.  I had pretty much decided to sacrifice a trip to St. Clair and take Friday off to fish Reeds Lake again!

Imagine my thoughts when I drove by the lake this afternoon and saw multiple, prominent, yellow posted warnings.  I recognized these from afar as public notices for aquatic weed treatment; but I stopped to confirm my thoughts.  (There was always the possibility that these were notices for a future event.  I am, after all, an optimist!)  I've never had good fishing coincide with these treatments on any lake, and given a choice, I'll avoid a treated lake for a couple of weeks.  

Chemical weed control took place today!  This is a temporary game changer for my bass fishing.  Just in time for the pike opener, too!

Just in case one hadn't noticed the conspicuously posted warnings...

There are plenty of other lakes and many other options for my time away from work.  I will still go to Lake St. Clair, hopefully repeatedly, and maybe even on Friday.  But suddenly, my short-term bass options don't seem as easy or as promising.   Fortunately, Muskie Season opens on Saturday; maybe I'll use that as a distraction from this unwelcome development.

Goals Accomplished

Not that any of this matters in the least, but I've actually reached several of my stated/written fishing goals for the 2016 season!  Local bass fishing has been solid so far, and the trip to Florida provided lots of fish and several new species (snook and sea-trout, as well as "lesser" others.)  It's kind of fun to dream, act and accomplish!  As for myself, I'm not necessarily used to such straightforward results.

I reached two goals in one day recently, when I caught both a 6-pound bass and a 20-pound "bag" (i.e., the combined virtual weight of my five biggest "keepers" of the day; all fish were immediately released.)  These are stretch goals for me, here, and while I recognize that these outcomes are a bit correlated, having occurred on the same day, I still enjoyed reaching them.  Now, I will simply have to build on this success by stretching and reaching again.

Three of the bass contributing to my 20-pound "bag"; the largest was captured on video instead of stills.  Oops!

I've plenty of other goals for my version of a successful season.  I'll keep you posted on my progress (or lack there-of.)  Enjoy!

Captiva 2016

I recently had the pleasure to share a week in Captiva, Florida with my girls and three other families.  It was a planned break from our Michigan Winter in celebration of our pending high school graduates.  The parents had met about a year ago to pick an appropriate location for this trip, and I'd have to say, we decided well.

The kids were safe, the pace was relaxed, and the accommodations were a known commodity.  Of course, I wanted to fish, and fish I did!  The fishing details are available here, but in this post, I just want to acknowledge some of the better developments of the week.  These include:

***We picked a perfect week to be gone.  The weather in Michigan was miserable during our stay in the sunshine state.

This April Fool's snow storm in Michigan was no joke.  That's my buddy's Dog Day in the background.  He launched her for the season into the teeth of this storm.

***We enjoyed easy access to a beautiful beach and a fish-filled bay.  The days were sunny and the water was warm.  Regardless of weather (by which I mean wind intensity and direction), I could productively fish.  Meanwhile, the girls were happy with the condo's pool and beach, and we could all walk to wherever our interests were at the moment.  Captiva is pretty much the end of the road, so while it was busy and crowded, it wasn't overly so.

***I just love being outside, and there was always something to watch!  As a bonus, this was usually in comfort!  I experienced a full week of sunrises and sunsets.  On the water, I was always watching bait, rays, birds, dolphins, manatees, sharks or sea turtles.  The ocean's constant motion and the bay's diurnal replenishment provided unique tides, waves, currents and color lines.  On the beach, every low tide featured a deep trough right along shore, with currents passing by like a river.  Occasionally I could identify a rip or cut in there sandbar, and all of these features let me think about fish and fishing (almost) to my contentment.  

***I am often tempted to conclude that saltwater fishing is just plain superior to freshwater fishing.  After all, It's not too much to ask The Salt for 40 fish a day, or for a few drag- screaming runs.  The fish just pull harder in saltwater!  They don't even have to be that big to do so!  Plus, you never know what might swim by and take your bait or what you might witness while out there.

***I had the opportunity to fish hard with some fine new equipment.  I was especially impressed by the new Stradic FK 4000 reel and by various Gulp! baits.  Both Momoi Blue Diamond braid (30-pound) and Spiderwire Stealth braid (10-pound) handled conditions well, and the Tsunami Gotcha plugs became my new, go-to presentation.

***I had travelled to a new area in search of new species, and I executed well!   While I didn't catch anything monstrous, necessarily worth bragging about, or life-changing,  I did catch a couple of new, targeted game fish species (snook and sea trout), and my rod was bent and my drags were slipping all week!  

My first snook

Here's a nice keeper sea trout.  Most were 14 inches or so, this 19-incher got harvested for a group dinner.

***Moreover, I had prepared well.  I used just about everything I had brought, and I had to purchase very little on-site. Each trip prepares me for the next!  

***As a rare bonus, I did not have a knot fail all week.  I did experience one Spanish cutoff, and a surf snook (of course, the fish of the trip!) sliced an undersized leader with its operculum, but otherwise I made the most of my opportunities and suffered no lost gear or fish.


***I may have revised my ultimate plans for a saltwater boat.  I'd love to have a sea-worthy 23-foot center console, but after a couple of days of fishing from a comfy but cumbersome, gas-sucking pontoon, the simplicity and economy of the 18-foot skiff shined through.  There wasn't much to fail; and there wasn't much to pay for at the end of the day, either.

***I made some new friends, or at least positively reinforced my relationship with existing acquaintances.  I really like all the folks we went with, and I'm proud that my daughter has chosen to associate with such a nice group of kids.

***Physically, I felt better than I have in about 8 years.  I partially recognized this at the time, but it has been more obvious as familiar aches, pains and stiffness have crept back upon me since our return.  Warm, salt water might just be my fountain of youth.

***I am proud to be able to do this with and for my family, and I recognize that I am fortunate to have a job from which I can truly take time off.  I hadn't a single professional care while I was gone; I was able to be present and focus on the matters at hand, without distraction or guilt.

***I spent a fine day with A.  

***I am filled with love for my girls.  I am pleased to contribute to, and share their happiness.

***I really am better at dealing with things.  I've been practicing what I've been preaching, and I know that negative emotions and reactions, and not necessarily unexpected developments, are my bane.  I have harnessed much of their former power, and I can occasionally direct that energy towards a productive end.  It's made a difference for me.  I think this has made a difference for those around me, too.

Surf fishing for snook; a fine way to spend your time!

Frenemy***

(This one has been sitting for a while, unfinished, but when I encountered another TED talk from Mr. Ricard today, I decided to just share this.  In the time since I first drafted this, I think I have become better at controlling my reactions to situations, as opposed to trying to control the situation itself.  I know I am better for those efforts.  And I like Mr. Ricard's ultimate message; we are all likely better people than we give ourselves credit for.)

***


“We deal with our mind from morning till evening, and it can be our best friend or our worst enemy.”  A Buddhist thought from Matthieu Ricard

Disregarding the grammatical issues with the quote as presented, and noting that I don’t want to get too deep or alarm anybody, here’s a Daily Chart* I produced earlier this year: 

This was generated on a particularly “bad” day, when a series of ultimately insignificant threads of my work life weaved into one giant (but thankfully, ephemeral) tangle.  It’s a bit daunting that my chart depicts four “dark” categories only, but I’m sure it just reflects my feelings at work at that moment, as I firmly recognize that there’s always lots of good in my life.    Interestingly, my work calendar indicates that I was contemporaneously killing it; field, office, independent and collaborative work; it all got done, and got done well, too.  

I alone reside in my body, with my brain.  I can’t do much about that.  I have some darkness in my life, but even I can feel kind of optimistic when I see that I have some control over the majority of my life, even as depicted above.  The dizziness was temporary and the physical pain is generally manageable and being controlled.  On that particular “bad” day, more than half of my issues in the chart are “mental”, and so are mine alone.  As referred to at the start, I can either be friend or foe to myself.  I can choose to accept (manage? defeat?; or not) the depression and the negative emotions.  Little did I know that this too was actually a Buddhist way of thinking:

“Enlightenment is eliminating mental confusion (and a litany of bad characteristics and emotions)…That’s very simple and straightforward.”   (Pico Iyer; another quoted Buddhist)

OK, here’s a formula to my liking; acknowledgement, acceptance, identification, management, learning; these can can all lead to clarification. And because the quote says eliminating the mental confusion (not eliminating the problem or bad thing itself) is the goal; I know I can work on this. I'm not asking myself to tackle the impossible, but rather simply to not get distracted by other aspects of these issues. I can co-exist with these dark elements, I just can't let them confuse my thinking of what is important.

Unfortunately the quote continues:

“Whether you can do it or not is another matter.”

So, like everything worthwhile, “it” probably won’t be easy.  But at least I feel that I have a map for the path ahead.  That is comforting.  I know that certain things are under my control.  That’s empowering.  I’m not even sure I know what “it” is, but I suspect I have some choice; and some clarity of thought with which to address these choices.  These are powerful tools.  I should be able to do it.  Heck, my chart could just as well be portrayed as this:

I could be OK with this.



***Fonts are apparently the enemy with respect to this entry.  Sorry.

*As part of my Individual Development Plan at work this past year (a good thing), I chose (in part) to pursue some PowerPoint and Presentation Skills. To help cement some of what I’d learned, I started honing my PowerPoint abilities by developing a new slide every work day, either for use or just for practice. Many of these have become a “Chart of the Day!” such as this one. These are usually timely and topical for the workday, but sometimes they are simply light-hearted conveyances of my fishing endeavors, time budgets, etc. Strangely, I’ve completely very few of these since the one first depicted here appeared…