I did something incredibly out of character and incredibly stupid on Saturday night…

For the first time in my life, I ignored obvious signs of bad weather and even dangerous weather for fishing. I had my reasons at the time, but looking back it was as idiotic a thing as I have done in a long while.

After missing a good plugging morning on Saturday, I was determined to get out. Defrosted the clam and set my poles by the door so that I wouldn’t back out. Spent the whole day doing the family-thing…not complaining it is what I love, but come 7:30—I slipped the waders on and bolted. I was in such a hurry and so bent on fishing that checking the radar never even occurred to me. That isn’t like me at all. My family jokes that I check the radar to get bagels. I had the bug and I had to go.

I even bailed on my “light and fast” ideas. Knowing the weather was set to come in, I was planning on a no-spike trip. Stand up, cast, wait repeat till exhausted. As I unloaded the car, this feeling of entitlement washed over me.

I deserve to have a comfortable chair, cutting board, and spikes. A lousy lousy week at work…why not?

Why not? How about lighting? That’s why not. How about I am so set to fish that I ignore the first 4 or 5 flashes. Ah, its just fireworks or some light-thing. I can’t believe how stupid the desire to fish can make me.

Suffice it to say, I wised up. After 20 minutes and the clam came back untouched, I had an inkling that it wasn’t going to be a great night anyway. I am thinking about pulling stakes when WHAM…my bunker-rigged wire-leader rod went straight out of the spike and into the sand. Whatever it was hit hard, but I lost it. Then another flash…That was it. I packed it up and practically ran off the beach.

I should have known better. I do know better. I let problems at work, a blindly dogged ambition to fish every week for a year, and an unfounded sense of entitlement put me in a place I shouldn’t have been.

I used to sit in judgment over those sorry souls that got caught out in conditions that were obviously dangerous. Now, I am not so judgmental. I was a hairs breadth away from being one of them.

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