2016 Fishing Wrap-Up

Despite a colder-than-average first half of December, heavy snow and a warm front have conspired to eliminate any currently safe, local ice-fishing options.  Numenon is put away for the season, the lakes are still locked in ice cover, and last-night's rain and today's 50-degree temperatures will roil our rivers.  I think it's clear, my fishing is done for 2016.

What better time to reflect on this past year?  2016 offered many challenges, but I can't complain about my fishing experiences.  I didn't catch any remarkable fish, but I had many remarkable experiences.  These included remarkably solid daily catches, but also new waters, new fish, new fishing partners and a plethora of sunrises, sunsets, sights, sounds and thoughts that I would not have otherwise experienced.

Meanwhile, I've got some reels to line, rods to rig, tackle to organize and new techniques to contemplate.  Enjoy this pictorial; but more importantly, Here's to 2017!

My fishing in 2016 had a nice amount of variety, with black and striped bass dominating my efforts.  I was lucky to get in some other saltwater sessions and some good pike fishing, too.  My muskie efforts fell short and Lake Michigan was tough, but overall it was a very solid season.  I didn't really catch any giants, but I caught a lot of very nice fish.  I found some new species, some new waters, and some new techniques.  Here's to building on this with an even better 2017!

January 2016 - My winter was consumed with creating light hair jigs and other tackle craft, while I dreamt of finicky, cold-water smallmouth bass.

January 2016 - Flag!  Another small pike is about to hit the ice, but one never knows what might happen.

February 2016 - I am not much of a video game kind of guy, but I do love vertical jigging on the ice with my Humminbird.  And, watch out, I've downloaded all my waypoints from the open water season onto this machine.

February 2016 - I scratched out a meal or two during a tough bite.

March 2016 - I appreciate Michigan's (newish) year-round bass season!  This was one of four beauties (all on jerk-baits) in a late March bass session.

April 2016 - It was snowing in Michigan, but I was in Captiva, Florida!  The receding tide exposed this trough right off the beach, and it contained snook!

April 2016 - (Easter Sunday!) - Here's an average bass from this epic day.  I tallied 14 keeper bass and  a half dozen nice pike for the day; just about all came on lipless cranks.

April 2016 - (Easter Sunday!) - I got pushed off my spot, but found some better quality fish!  This might be my heaviest pike of the season.

April 2016 - (Easter Sunday!) - I scored this dandy bass on consecutive casts with the pike pictured above.  This picture does not do justice for this fish; I'm quite certain it was my heaviest bass of the year.

May 2016 - I was struggling for bites (on Lake St. Clair?) and so switched to gliding hair jigs through a community hole.  This nice drum told me there was some life here. 

May 2016 -  When the sun came out a little later, the bass started snapping on X-Raps.  This was my largest smallmouth of the season and anchored a very nice virtual limit.

June 2016 - Grand Traverse Bay wasn't as easy as it had been in 2015, but we still caught some nice fish.  This solid four-pounder ate a pink X-Rap jerk-bait over deep water.  Some other tanks followed the same lure, but couldn't commit.

July 2016 - Mackerel and stripers were there for me in Maine!

August 2016 - They were still there for me during a separate trip in August, too!

September 2016 - Sunrise in Northern Michigan on my choice of smallmouth lakes for the day.

September 2016 - Walloon Lake was unexpectedly difficult, but she still coughed up some nice fish.

October 2016 - Reeds Lake was on fire for pike!  Deep cranks trolled in the daily target zone produced a lot of action!

October 2016 - A pretty typical pike from Reeds.  I got cut off a few times, lost a solid 34-incher, and saw a giant, but only caught a handful over 30 inches.  Still, when solid eaters like above are plentiful to the point of being predictable, that is good fishing in my estimation!

November 2016 - The month was all about family travels (interrupted by a little bit of work), and I didn't even fish until November 29.  This pond on Cape Cod looked plenty trouty to me, though!

Family Trip

Plans for our 2016 Thanksgiving were hatched over a year ago.  With both girls now in New England, we were hosted by my maternal uncle on Cape Cod.  Some cancelled and some were mildly ill, but our travels from Michigan were without issue, and by 2:30 PM on the day before Thanksgiving, my wife and I were reunited with our studious girls.  By 5 PM, we were on the Cape!

With fewer people in attendance and the hosting house less attractive due to illness, we had more time to be together as a nuclear family and extra time to explore.  It turned out to be a wonderfully relaxing long weekend!  The trip back to Michigan wasn't too painful, and I even scored a bonus day free from work, so I got to try for a muskie one more time.

Thanksgiving Day itself was very pleasant.  During the meal, we discussed (among other things) boat names.  I've collected quite a few possibilities for my future boats, but when pressed for the likely name of my next saltwater boat, I proposed Mooncusser.  This meets all my requirements for a proper boat name; it's unique, thought provoking and simply sounds just a little bit naughty.

A "mooncusser" is a land-based pirate.  You have to admire that!  Their efforts were likely thwarted by moonlight, hence the name.  They depended on luring ships within range by establishing false lighthouses.  I suppose in the deepest gloom, enough captains made enough mistakes to make this a viable method for making a living.

The next day, we were walking the beach at Chatham.  I was pleasantly surprised to note the following:

Municipal Mooncussing; the lighthouse at Chatham, Massachusetts is short and quite a ways inland; a perfect recipe for land-based piracy, especially when combined with shoal water and a shifting inlet.

This shack along the beach caught our attention. It referenced an "Occupation" for some cause, and perhaps has served as a legitimate shelter.

To my delight, I found this inside the shack. 

I can't guarantee she'll be Mooncusser, but the odds certainly have improved!

The trip also included my rediscovery of what was once family property:

This property was once in my grandparents' possession.  I have faint memories of the porch, the hill on the side and the interior lay-out.  I have no recollection of it being so close to the ocean!  But I was only 5 or 6 when the house was sold, and that was before I'd found fishing.

We also poked around the Brewster/Orleans area and found Nickerson State Park.  It was beautifully quiet in the off-season and attractive to the sweet-water fisherman in me.  I am sure we will return again, some day.

Flax Pond in Nickerson State Park, Brewster, Massachusetts.  Some trout were rising; I had no gear.  I met a couple of fishermen on their way out, and it looked like Berkley PowerBait on the bottom was their plan.

In Which I Find Solace in Irish Poetry

I'm not a poet, but I may have some poetic tendencies.  I'm neither a trained philosopher nor writer, but I think and type.  I'm not a scholar in any of these fields, but I can appreciate those who are.

*****

This has been a long and surreal week.  And yet, it has had some high points.  These might as well be recognized. **

I've been visiting distant family.  Well, close family at a distance, actually.  This trip provided lots of time in the truck on a fairly loose schedule, alone with my thoughts.

On the morning of the first day, with close to 750 miles ahead of me for the day, I turned to the radio.  I quickly settled into an agreeable program on Michigan Public Radio.  It was entitled "On Being" ***, and while I was intrigued by the title, I stayed for the content.

The hostess interviewed a lauded Irish Poet (Michael Longley, about whom I was totally ignorant.)  Despite my ignorance, I couldn't help but admire the World View offered by this gentle man.

I'll not do these justice; but here are a few of the thoughts that were shared, in some cases with the twist that I added over the course of miles of highway:

Sanity and happiness reside in ordinary Small Things, so it is best to be present, aware and open. It could be Mr. Longley's wild orchids, but it could be appreciating a surprise freshwater drum on a hair jig, too.  It could be the morning's sunrise, but it could also be noticing the caress of warm soapy water as one does the daily dishes. It could be a memory of a past life, but it could be a shared, positive thought with whomever you next encounter.

Mr. Longley described the use of poetry to identify and describe the Core Essence of a situation, and the poem itself as the core essence of this description.  Go ahead, check out the header at the top of this page!  There's nothing in life more beautiful or meaningful (to me) as potentially recognizing the numenon of our being.  I'll be honest; I think this recognition begets love, whether it's romantic, familial or simply passion for a task or quest.

Once challenged to define poetry, Mr. Longley declared, "(I)f prose were a river; then poetry is a fountain."  That is, it provides form to function; and also function to form.  Shape and utility are inextricably intertwined; and this cannot help but be beautiful.  Without this connection, something is (at best) less than it could be; and (at worst) a wasteful distraction.  He further described poetry as "Care with words."  But I believe that he provided this with double meaning.  Of course, words are selected and presented carefully in poetry; but the real care is in the healing and compassion conveyed by sharing these words.

Mr. Longley opined that the Opposite of War is not necessarily Peace, so much as it is Civilization.  As I've tried to state elsewhere (here, for instance) there is nothing more human than protecting and supporting a civilized state.  With the current situations in Syria and Iraq, the Presidential election looming  and the pending anniversary of the Paris Bombings, I couldn't have agreed with him more.  

I found this solace before I even knew I needed it.  Because a few days after my trip began, unexpected election results "trumped" any direction or progress with my ruminations.  But that's okay, because I am a practiced thinker and I had already started the exploration of my philosophical beliefs.  I do know with great certainty that I'd rather be beaten than embrace the thoughts of an emboldened "friend", who literally thanked God for the opportunities currently afforded by Concealed Carry.  

*****

** I almost finished this post without including these!  I could start with the pleasure of finding a new (to me), substantive and interesting radio show; and "discovering" Mr. Longley.  Let's not overlook some home-cooked favorites and experiencing pride in hearing strangers praising my octogenarian, volunteering mother.  I completed a few chores, and I ate nothing but fried chicken and apple pie well into Mr. Trump's reign as President-Elect!  I spent more time with my brother and family than I have in years.  I met my nephew as a grown man, I took a road trip to Hammond's Fishing Center in Cumming, Georgia to look at the bait and day-dream, and I received a gift of a pair of Water Bugz planer boards.  It was a good trip!

*** Link to this episode of "On Being"

50 Shades of Green

There's so much I like about this picture, including the crisp fall lighting, a pretty decent weekday pike in hand, and a friendly photographer back in the boat after a long absence.    Cheers! to capturing these 50 Shades of Green!

Maine Musings

I recently returned from a trip to Maine; all the fishing details are here.  I rushed through capturing those so as not to lose them, but having done so, I can can definitively say that while they might accurately capture the fishing events, they fall short in capturing the true essence of the trip.  And that's what this entire blogging endeavor is all about!

That is perhaps best captured in my youngest daughter's pride and happiness with her new home at the college of her choosing.  That's why we had made the trip.  But the importance of the trip to me was also captured by individual moments that deserve to be noted:

• Completing a couple of hot and dirty tasks for those whom I care about;
• Noticing the distinct phosphorescence of the bay's water as I retrieved my lure on the darkest of the New Moon mornings;
• Catching my first Birthday and September Stripers;
• Exploring some new areas and finding new favorites;
• Being proud to leave my youngest daughter in her new community at 2 PM, but having my oldest daughter fall asleep in my arms by 4 PM as we watched a Red Sox game on TV;
• Sharing simple meals in beautiful settings; 
• Sharing fishing time with friends, old and new; and
• Quietly holding hands with A as we covered a couple of thousand miles in our safe, reliable vehicle.

And of course there was the fishing!  

These travels marked the end of the Raising Kids at Home portion of our lives and the commencement of Our Future.  Getting there will also be a long haul, but the real importance of this new journey will be embodied by the things I notice and appreciate along the way.  Let there be many!

Casco Bay

Brown Bass Road Trip

You can check out the specifics of my recent Brown Bass Road Trip here (should you so choose), but let me simply say that the act of fishing just leads to good things.  Whether it's being close to the home of potentially giant bass, recognizing the health of a vibrant lake, sharing meals with friends or just temporarily sharing an elevated lifestyle with the one you love, I am more likely to encounter these and many other good things when I am out fishing.

Private dock on a Northern Michigan lake; not bad, eh?

I've got a thing for brown bass.

I've got a thing for all bass!

Why else would I experience such sights, except that I am out chasing fish?

50,000 Hours

Please let me preface this with an acknowledgment that I have willingly subordinated my professional life to the needs of my immediate family and to my personal sense of life balance.  I need to be there for my kids, we've needed to share meals and talk, I need the flexibility to experience life and take advantage of unexpected developments, and I need to fish! My current job has been absolutely awesome in accommodating family life while providing just enough security and compensation that we've all had ample opportunities to partake in all of the above.  We've collectively benefited a great deal, and for that, I am truly thankful.

***

I am just a bit premature in claiming 50,000 hours at my current job, but I am close enough to legitimately reflect on this milestone.  And rest assured, if I were to include the hours from my previous, related job, I could clear the 50,000-hour bar with a wide margin to spare.

Let's simply assume familiarity with the common maxim that it takes 10,000 hours to truly master a skill.  Have I done so with my time at work?  Have I simply continually beaten a 40,000-hour, long-dead horse while coasting?  Have I refined my initially-honed skill?  Have I moved on to other skill(s)?   Have these other skills complemented the initial and subsequent skill(s)?  It's at least worth thinking about!

I've divided my experience here into very approximate five-year chunks and reflected on what might have dominated my efforts during that time.  Here's what I came up with: in many ways it reflects Simon Sinek's Golden Circle*, and my long journey towards peace with my work.  I'll admit, this journey that has become increasingly difficult for me to continue without consideration of some major changes. But simply going through this exercise has increased my understanding of the personal value of these 50,000 hours.


Chunk 1, Hours 0 to 10,000 (What? I)

Here I learned about my employment situation, the workplace rules and expectations.  I learned the nuts and bolts of my general program, the rules and physics of Air Pollution Control.  I continually got exposed to different scenarios, and I started developing some specific areas of expertise and personal style.  I learned from my mistakes, learned how to avoid the mistakes of others and to build on common successes.  Let's just say that this period was devoted to the development of Skill 1: Building the Necessary Foundation.

Chunk 2, Hours 10,000 to 20,000  (What? II)

Fortunately, I believe that I grew beyond simple mastery of the basic position.  Here I got increasingly involved with the implementation of a very specific program in support of general programmatic needs.  I had to work with many and varied co-workers, but my role was still largely as a doer and worker bee.   My scope of understanding became both broader (in general) and deeper (focused on the needs of this specific program.)  I ran with this program to the best of my abilities, and improvements were meaningful and measurable.  This program became the least of concerns for my management.  While this sounds like a desirable outcome, there is perhaps the real possibility of future, collective amnesia about the actual accomplishments achieved.  Let's just call Skill 2: Developing Specific Program Expertise.


Chunk 3, Hours 20,000 to 30,000  (How? I)

At this point, I had considerable experience and recognized expertise.  Now I had an opportunity to build on these by focusing  on programmatic effectiveness.  With a foundation of proven, historical effectiveness and a free rein from above, I was able to leverage various Outside Partnerships to address some pervasive, important programmatic issues.  Using Skill 3: Working Effectively with Others was actually a lot of fun!

Chunk 4, Hours 30,000 to 40,000  (How? II)

This period was probably simply dominated by too much to do with too few resources.  But with my independence came an opportunity to define, at least in part, my work priorities.  On a singularly important day early in this "chunk" I was exposed to a Customer Service model simply presented as "COKE".  The premise; Which is most important to effectively addressing a customer's needs; Conscientiousness? Openness?  Knowledge? or Empathy?  

I'm a pretty smart guy; I am even a scientist; I am an expert in a technical field; and at the start of the exercise, I knew that I brought Knowledge to the table.  That was the hammer I could wield.  From the start, I even thought that those other traits might just get in the way of the actual work of solving problems!  (No wonder he'd been brought in to speak with us!) But at the end of the exercise, I was convinced that Empathy (by which I mean recognizing the real humanity of the issue at hand and reacting in an appropriate, humane manner) was the answer to the fundamental question of effectively addressing another's needs.  At the very least, our presenter offered some fun and interesting anecdotes.  But his ideas are still with me; it really was a singular day for me.

Somewhat awakened to empathy and its two-way nature, I pretty quickly realized that I could not actually accomplish much without the significant help of others.  Moreover, they will only help if they've bought into my plans.  We needed to identify and share a deeper understanding of a common, accepted goal.  And dare I say, finding this common goal is a tremendous tool for earning trust from others; and that my code for honoring that trust demands sincere, mutual efforts to achieve that shared goal? I'm willing to summarize this period as Skill 4: Sharing a COKE.  

I may have just been growing up, but work and life became more than knowledge, expertise and Analytical Thinking.  It became more about just being a better, more effective person.  I certainly found that there is considerable freedom and joy in recognizing this as a legitimate function, especially when compared to being simply correct, perfect or accomplished.

Chunk 5, Hours 40,000 to 50,000  (Why?)

At about this point, I had clearly developed my unique professional perspective.  I have specific ideas about what is important, what can be changed, and what is best left alone.  But acceptance of this question Why? into the personal meaning of my work can either motivate or deflate.   When possible, I have utilized the question of Why? to help me prioritize my directed efforts and interests.  But I'm not sure my current employer or business unit has the luxury of examining Why? we do certain things or pursue certain goals.  Our collective myopia commands attention to immediate needs and rarely any farther.    Unfortunately, this is a rather important issue for me; after all, the answer to Why? ultimately defines the purpose of my work.  Without an acceptable purpose, I'll likely not ever be satisfied with my work.

Like many of my other less-than-light-hearted posts, this entry has simmered for quite a while.  Meanwhile, back in the office, my acceptance of my work has recently worn bare thin.  I've not much hope that an acceptable Why? will emerge locally; and so I've initiated several steps for some real (if only theoretically meaningful) change.  Perhaps as a result of actually taking these steps, I've recently had a moment of clarity: 

I have enough personal perspective to know that I am not defined by my work.  I have so many other interests and good things going on that I don't have to pigeon-hole my self-esteem in any such manner.  I am the positive sum of all my Relationships and Partnerships.  I am close to the heart of a small group of truly amazing folks.  I sometimes even influence them for the better of all.  I am fortunate to be near the crest of Maslow's Hierarchy; I've time and resources for leisurely thought and introspection.  I stand on the Shoulders of Giants with respect to what I know, the ease and technology of our modern life, and even the sweet functionality and performance of my beloved fishing gear.  

Bottom line, I've enough awareness to know that I've got it good and am more likely to share this goodness than to to take it from others.  And this has remarkably little to do with how I've spent the previous 40,000(+) hours.

Out of such a blurry rant, emerges my version of Skill 5: Creation of Meaningful Personal Focus.

I now know that I may not find that Focus at my current desk.  But I am okay with that; I think I can let myself relax a bit and go make it happen.  I don't need to fix things there.  There are plenty of other possibilities that deserve my attention.  If pursuing these can help develop my own version of Meaningful Focus, they will prove to be truly worthwhile endeavors. I should now be ready to take them on.  Time to start!

***

*Maybe any reader should just cut to the quick and google Mr. Sinek or his book "Start with Why", and save one's time.