On The Road...With Jack Karpawack
Jack Karpawack here. I've taken to the road... Life can be simple,and life can be hard on the road, but mainly it just makes your butt hurt having to drive so far to pursue the call of the fish. I'd like to say I am in some hip chic coffee house this morning, getting a pulse on the urban mainstream here in Twin Falls Idaho, but...... ......I'm writing from a not so cheap motel-because free internet access doesn't come cheap-ya know. (And my wife and daughter wouldn't have it any other way)
Specifically,I'm writing from the bathroom, since for some reason it's the only place I can "log on". On my way to the Henry's Fork river in Idaho. Yes, the famous one. It's a little early for prime time fishing on the Henry's Fork, but with a trip to Yellowstone planned, I just had to see what all the broo-ha is all about.I may even get a few casts on the Madison, but if I do,it will probably be one of those "drive by" fishing attempts, that only help you strike up a conversation in a bar somewhere. "Yeah, I fished the Madison once up in Yellowstone." Anyway, if I can find or poach access to the internet on this trip I will give you an "on the road" report from the Henry's Fork. Of course, it may be tough to log on from a Yurt up in the mountains of Idaho!!If not, well, I will give you the recap when I get back from the trip. Not much to report yet. Just the usual racing over other trout filled streams between Southern Oregon and Twin Falls.
Driving by rivers and wondering what kind of fish are in there. Mentally casting a line into a riffle that looks good at seventy five miles an hour, and YOU KNOW has a monster 25 inch Rainbow in it!! It's easy to be a good fisherman at seventy five miles an hour. Well, it's time to go, no time to write, got to get license and build up the local economy with some misguided purchases of flies."Give me a couple of those Henry's Specials a couple of those Henry's Pale Morning Duns, a couple a..." The evening's hatch awaits and I still have miles to go before I cast!! Until then, watch out, because I may be mentally casting behind your car...at seventy five miles an hour.... A.J. Klott
Author, writer of fishing humor,and "fly tack" peddler.A.J. writes about the people,characters and modern day events that surround the fishing world. His first book is due out in December of 2005.
If you need a laugh or a fun gift, visit his website at:
http://www.twoguyswithflys.com
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First of all, we need to look at the word ... recreation. When I break it down, it comes out re-creation.
What this means to me is a re-creating of myself; a way to get away from it all and do some soul searching and some thinking and ... re-create my ideas, inspirations and motivations; a break in the pattern that allows me to reconsider things in my life and make adjustments.
But the term is large. Typically, recreation means activity. What do you do for recreation? Watch TV? Garden? Go out to restaurants or bars? What?
It implies relaxation. It implies a way to get away from the normal grind and have an element of divergence; have some fun and forget it all.
Not so for the bass fisherman.
I know I have mentioned to people that I went fishing and they said, "Oh, that sounds relaxing."
What is relaxing about bass fishing? Probably nothing.
There are times I go to be outdoors, and there are times I go to catch bass. Catching bass is not relaxing. In fact, bass fishing is hard work.
If you want to throw in a live bait and hang by the shade tree, so be it. Granted, that is fishing ... but not the style of bass fishing I'm talking about.
What I am talking about is active bass fishing where you are in hot pursuit of the prey. Walking the banks ... fishing from the boat ... whatever your style may be, it is hard work.
Why hard work? Every time I come home from a fishing trip I am worn out for a few days. That's because I work hard while at play. I am up and down the banks hiking around the lake looking for my target: largemouth bass. I cast and I cast and I cast; always keeping the bait in motion and trying to find the fish.
So, do I go to get away from it all? Or, do I go because I love the thrill of the hunt; the catch.
If you think that serious bass fishing is a 'vacation," it's not. Again, it's hard work.
Even if you're not hiking up and down the banks, even if you are in a boat, it's hard work. You are constantly casting, reeling and landing fish (hopefully). This will wear you out if you only fish occasionally.
So, to me, bass fishing must be an obsession. I mean, certainly, I don't do it to get occasionally, though it is that. And I don't do it to forget the world and all it's cares, though it does help with that. And I don't do it because I am looking for a way to relax, though I do find it to be relaxing as well as tiring.
What's in it for me?
I must do it. I am obsessed, maybe better described as addicted to the adrenaline charge I get when I catch a bass. I need the satisfaction of feeling powerful because I have fooled the fish in it's own domain and I am now the king. I have to have that.
By the way, I will have to write more later, because now I must recreate. Maybe I will see you there.
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You have just rolled out of bed, poured you coffee and there it is. You knew it
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