Having a hobby, or better yet, multiple hobbies is important. Especially for those of us who spend our days tracking KPIs, generating go to green plans, circling back, and touching base all in the pursuit of increasing shareholder value. The corporate life can be draining, so having something that recharges the batteries can make the endless parade of meetings a bit more tolerable. Over the past year or so I have discovered fishing and wish I hadn’t waited so long to get started.
My older teenage son set the hook with me since he and his friends all love bass fishing. It seems that at least in Charlotte that chasing largemouth bass is wildly popular amongst their age group, at least before they get their first cars and start driving. Since most of the younger generation’s time is spent with faces planted squarely in their phones, I consider this a promising development. Any opportunity to research and obtain new gear is also a plus in my book.
Hitting the local ponds to catch bass has been great, especially when they aggressively hit the topwater lures and crankbaits, but I have become also become enthralled with creek fishing. Charlotte has an abundance of creeks that run along the greenway networks, so walking along looking for places to access the water while the joggers and cyclists look at me sideways has become part of my weekend routine. The panfish that populate the creeks aren’t terribly picky about what they eat and when hooked, fight like insurance companies denying claims. Besides all the sunfish and bluegill, I’ve also caught small spotted bass, crappie, and catfish. I’ve seen a couple of gar as well, and this summer’s mission is going to be figuring out how to catch one of those long-nosed dinosaurs.
I’m thankful that my kids have learned to fish while they are young and find myself wondering how many catches I’ve missed out on since I started so late. Time outdoors is time well spent though, and the tapping on the end of the line beats the tapping of the keyboard hands down. The garage is filling up with fishing gear at a fairly alarming pace, but driveway parking is a minor tradeoff for a new hobby.