A Year in the Life of a FAOL’er – 2010 edition
A year goes by fast. Looking back on the 2009 season, I get the same old feeling. The more things change, the more they seem the same!
A whole lot of things changed since break-up last spring.
- Liliane learned the ropes of landing adult salmon – a first for her and a new “side kick” for me;
- I moved into a new house up here, then moved over 10 cats in with us as Lili opened a cat breeding enterprise;
- they put up a new format here for the Site,
- There are lots of new contributors to the weekly articles! (Which is fantastic – keep ‘em coming!)
- the discussion Board changed color!
Then again, even with all the change, some things always remain the same:
- The salmon came back to the same ‘ole holes and the Warden’s still greet you with a smile, a mug of coffee and a firm handshake
- the moose ford the river at the same spot to get to the salt lick across from the #43 pool,
- the Pirates still run rampant in the Salt Water Forum,
- Betty would jolt me back to reality every now and again with a knowing comment or a well places PM or E-mail,
- Ron did his usually miracles keeping the site up and also new and improved!
I suppose that the reason things change AND stay the same is due in part to how one looks at change.
Many of us don’t like change. We fear it; we go out of our way to avoid it. Then there are those who can deal with it or even look forward to it. For these folks, the only thing that is the same is change. There will always be change, so why not live for it instead of against it.
Case in point: I changed jobs this winter. Well, truth to be know, I got downsized in October, did some work around home over the Holidays and then started up with a new company in mid-January.
A bit of change here:
After +20 years as a managing forester, I now work as Operations Director for a small company and we manage biting insects and do West Nile Virus testing! Since our big season is (obviously) Spring and early Summer, how to go about fitting in some fishing??
Well, cherish the change instead of complaining about it, I finally took up a friend’s offer to try some Winter fishing. Hmmm, Bonz in Cuba, small Tarpon, Permit and Jack!! I can’t think of a better way to “adjust myself to a new job”. I have some serious practice ahead of me this summer to be ready for Christmas!
My day job will also have me travelling in some faraway lands. Not quite as exotic as for some, but still, Labrador, James Bay, New Brunswick, Gaspe, Quebec North Shore. Can you say Flowers River, Goose Bay or Eastmain and not image Atlantics, giant Brookies and Arctic Char?? Of course, seeing as I’ll need to mostly do drop in fishing, I think I’ll need a good Spey rod as well as a 2 hand shooting head rod. A new challenge!
So when your favorite river is running high, instead of grumbling and griping about not going with upstream dries, try something new. Try practicing your roll and one handed spey cast. It can be surprising at what you can learn about drifts, seams and mending on a downstream cast.
Maybe in mid season your nearby trout streams will be running too hot. Try some #22 red ant dries for White Fish. You’ll soon have a new appreciation for “coarse fish”.
Change is inevitable. Sometimes it comes suddenly; sometimes it just simply happens over time. IMHO, the trick to dealing with it is to be ready for change. Embrace it. It may just be the ticket that’ll take you to the next level.
Christopher Chin – Proulxville Quebec