Truly, I agree that others should come first after a rewarding day on the water. Then again, in some situations, placing other people first, this might be your rewarding day on the water.
For example, my day was empty and I called it quits because the trophy trout were not biting. However, I had numerous hits on ant imitations and pulled in the little ones. Returning to my vehicle, two young men were casting lures by the head wall and catching nothing. While removing my waders, I heard one say, ?They are not biting anything we have. Let?s go get some beer.?. Truly these men were not old enough to buy beer and much less know their limits. Hence, I walked over and gave them my stockpile of ants and went back to loading the vehicle. In no time flat, they were catching Rainbows and the younger man said, ?I can? wait to show Mom these trout for dinner.?. Hopefully, the beer became a catch that will wait for another year and that days trout became a conversation topic around a family dinner table.
Another example, my first day Salmon fishing was a challenge and I knew that my experience was minimal. However, I was glad to hook one after three hours of freezing on the Salmon river, NY. Sadly, the moment was short lived by a guide and his drift boat as he saw my situation of ?On-Line? and disregarded the tension in my line by continuing down river and severing the connection. Truly this was crushing, but it became disgusting when I saw him later at the Inn and he proceeded to boast about his client?s success. More so, he gloated about the bonus money gained by their captures. Where as, my confrontation with him was useless and his attitude was framed by his words, ? We live here, work here, and run the river the way we want to.?. Hence it is my hope that an age old clich? comes true, ?What goes around will come around?.
All in all, I have discovered that fishing is not rewarded by a trophy on my wall, but a day that I am given to catch a glimpse of humanity. Hence, it is safe to say, the difference between fishermen and anglers will continue to be the diversity of catching fish or catching a moment of grace.