Post #100: How Fishing Changed My Life

We walked into a small bar and grill down the street from Kirkwood ski resort. As we sat down and had lunch I wondered how many would know the miles I had traveled for the mere pleasure of catching fish. It wasn’t only the lunch that I enjoyed but the company and the journey itself. I have been to foreign countries and different states but always for a specific purpose or passion, never for a past time. I stood outside and stretched, my lungs filling with fresh mountain air. I looked around and my eyes took in the scenery. I wondered how many locals had come to take that scenery for granted, driving by it all the time like when I drive by inundated rice fields or the Sacramento river. I was captivated by what I saw but even more by the mere fact that this hobby that had brought me out to El Dorado National Forest, a place that I have passed up on my way to Tahoe but never really appreciated.

22" Striper

First time Fly Fishing

There are many things that I never appreciated about fishing as a kid which led me to abandon this sport by the time I became a teenager. I left fishing for a life of video games, computers, vices and girls. All of these became more important to me than standing on the banks of a river with my dad occasionally catching fish. When I entered the world of higher education at CSU Chico, fishing became a distant memory of my childhood. In fact, it was replaced by going to the movies, hanging out with friends, and occasionally visiting a downtown Chico bar or two.

PB 16" Rainbow Trout

Fishing with my love

As I got older I took a job in Woodland, Ca and began the daily grind just like every other adult I knew. At this point, I was over the bar scene and the loud college kids. I adjusted to the monotony of everyday life, going to work, sitting at a desk for 8 hours staring at a computer screen and coming home to eat and then squeeze in an hour at the gym before going to sleep. My days became routine until one day  I happened to be looking out my window at work and noticed a man unloading a mammoth fish from his truck which I now know to be a white sturgeon. It’s amazing how one sight has the potential to change your life as much as the sight of that fish did to me.   To read a little more about that experience, please refer back to my first post, “Enter the Angler.”

On the surface I can say that what fishing has given me is the ability and privilege to catch hundreds of fish throughout the years. This however would be the understatement of a lifetime. As of right now fishing has given me so much more and since this is my 100^th post I figured I would cover some of the things that fishing has given me or returned to me that I would have lost had I not started fishing again.

Father and son

Pops and his first Largemouth

My first fishing pole

One thing I remember from fishing was that my old man (or Ol’ Pops as I call him) taught me how to fish. Being From El Salvador, He didn’t know anything about football or baseball and he never really taught me a whole lot about soccer either. The one sport I do remember sharing with my dad was fishing. When I was a little boy I remember him buying me a little Micky Mouse pole and then graduating to an abu Garcia rod and reel that I used until I was a teenager. 

Perhaps the most important thing that fishing gave me back was my father.  At some point when I was a teenager I thought I was too cool to hang out with my old man. Over time I noticed that our communication was stunted. We didn’t have a whole lot to talk about and so sometimes our time together was somewhat awkward especially since Ol’ Pops is kind of a quiet guy. 

18" Striper

When I came back to fishing I would often ask him to get his license and come with me but it wasn’t until I came home with an 18” striper during  summer that he decided it was time for his return. Our communication returned with old stories as well as conversation on how to catch striper.  This eventually led to conversation about things other than fishing and led to a few heart to hearts with my dad that have changed our relationship forever. On a side note,  my father had never caught a largemouth bass until I taught him what I had learned about bass. The student becomes the master! That of course is another post.

Drink one for me!

Chico buddies at Usal Beach - 3/13

I left Chico with a heavy heart. I had a large social group out there and I was coming to Woodland where I knew nobody but family. I went up to Chico to party a few times but it just wasn’t the same. After I began fishing and posting pictures of my catches, I realized most of my chico buddies were either outdoorsmen or willing/ wanting to start camping/fishing. Sure enough I began to reunite with them and continue to keep in touch with them and go camping and fishing.  

Surrounded by my best friends that I just met today

Mark from NCT

Me and Russell fly fishing the Yuba

It all started when I began blogging 100 posts ago! Specifically, my second post received two replies from two guys that have now become regulars at my blog. In those days they went by the monikers: Shoreman and Rainbow Chaser. Today they are known as Mark from Northern California Trout and Mel over at Pond stalker blog . They were my first two blog buddies and I’m proud to say they are still my good blog buddies! I have been out fishing with Mark a few times and I look forward to many more! I have yet to fish with Mel but I’m sure we will throw a fly or two in the future. After them came Shawn, Russell, Howard, Bill, Daniel, Bryan, Jay, Etc. Come to find out that fishing folks are the coolest folks you can ever meet. I never would have known this if I had not gotten into fishing. Cheers to all my current fishing friends, blog buddies and to all I will meet in the future.  

Adventures/ Scenery

Fly fishing Dry Creek

I have ventured into beautiful valleys, wonderful waterways and fished everything from clear creeks to dirty ditches. I have explored, walked and hiked to fishing spots. I have seen beautiful sunsets and driven up breathtaking mountain roads. I have camped just to fish at the crack of dawn. I have fished rivers, ponds, sloughs, lakes and the ocean. I have had the time of my life and I look forward to many more adventures and finding beauty in nature. 

 

Therapy

I have breathed deep the unpolluted air of many fishing holes. I have allowed the water to soothe my soul. I have become dazed by patterns swirling in the water until they disappear and with them my anxieties. I have read the word of God, I have listened to music, I have had heart to hearts with friends and family. My eyes have been opened to a whole new world where the worries of my work desk and home life are processed on neutral ground. The sounds of water traveling and sunsets falling have given me peace during difficult situations, allowing me to sort through issues of the day. I have learned to relax.  

Sunset over the Deep Water channel

I know this is an entire book you are reading here but if you are still with me, not just on this post, but on my blog I want to tell you that I appreciate you. My life has changed since I first stepped back out onto the banks and you have been along for the ride. You have read my experiences, given me tips and occasionally corrected me, you have commented on my words and pictures, you have gifted me flies and your time, you have fished with me and taught me more about fish. I am forever grateful to all of you who are reading this and to the sport that changed my life.