Shooting Fish

Shinn Pond - Morning Pier
Originally uploaded by Ame Otoko

No, not really. My sudden onset of unemployment has freed up a lot of my mornings though I spend many evenings browsing the career sites, writing cover letters and connecting with my network. But mornings are generally free, so I have taken some time to learn a new hobby, fishing.

I fished fairly often as a child when my parents along with my extended family would go camping in the summer together. Our destination was nearly always somewhere in Northern California, near a lake. My cousins and I would spend hours catching little bluegill and bass, roasting ourselves to a ruddy brown in the summer sun. The rewards of fishing were, well, catching fish, and a tasty albeit bony dinner of whatever we caught that morning.

As I grew older, however, my patience for fishing disappeared and my desire to fish didn’t resurface again until our trip this past summer with my family to the Eastern Sierras. As we stood along the shore of beautiful Silver Lake, I noticed a family next to us relaxing in their beach chairs, poles in the water. In the water in front of them was a string of healthy sized trout that they had caught just sitting in that spot.

My feelings about fishing were confirmed when my mom came up to visit from Arizona, bearing gifts of new fishing rods for my two children. I thought we would go to the local lake, spend a couple hours catching a some fish and go home, disappointed but experienced.

Six hours later, we had not caught a single fish but I practically had to pry my kids away from the dock. They were so intent on catching something, I felt guilty for depriving them of the fishing experience for so long.

A couple weeks later we discovered Shinn Pond, where we met a local man who was friendly and helpful enough to help us catch some fish. Since then, I’ve been hooked, no pun intended.

On a morning I need a recharge, I head over to the pond, catch and release a few fish (they are too small to keep and eat), and enjoy the silence and solitude.

I can’t help but think in my previous life as an employed person, I would have seen fishing as a waste of time. Now I see it as it is: a time to think, relax, and gain some separation from the troubles of the world.

I’ve been using my wife’s four-thirds camera more and more often for casual outings. I love the 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens and the tremendous flexibility you can achieve through it. Fishing and taking pictures alone presents certain challenges, so a small camera is better for these circumstances.

But the theme of this blog entry is relaxing. If it has been a while since you’ve escaped the crazy world that is your life, try fishing. It could change your perspective.

Comments

[lunar fishing calendar]

Hope you find a job soon man, in the mean time fishing is a good way to pass the time.