Bad Blogger Syndrome

I have fished.........I have fished most of my life. I picked up the fly rod 15 some years ago and it changed the way I not only looked at fishing but how I looked at life. From that first day of fly fishing I spent the next decade, plus, searching for ways to submerse myself in it. I fished almost everyday for years and eventually became a guide. The guide game quickly accelerated my skills to a higher level......I was on top of my game. My first son was also born on my first year as a guide. The next year my second son. Now life had been changed in a way that if you are not a parent you cannot understand. As the years went by I started to notice that it became harder and harder to spend all this time away. The summers guiding in Alaska became almost unbearable. Spending all my days on the river was coming to an end. The years flowed on. Life became even more enveloped by storms that we must all pass through, I found myself drifting away from the guide life. 8 years after son #2 came son number three and 2 amazing step-daughters.

Once I had stopped guiding I learned even more about fly fishing. The need for big fish and the latest gear started to fade and I found myself standing in a river with a half empty vest staring at a duck gingerly minding his own business in a back eddy below me. All I could think about was that duck. I have always known there was more to fishing than just fishing but on that day, as fish were rising right in front of me, I realized I had made fly fishing my life and not my goal or hobby. When you slow down and really look at every aspect of the river as a whole than you will learn things about fish that you never though possible. You will also most likely learn a few things about yourself too.

So fast forward to today. I am in a place, that when I was younger, I swore I would never be in. I had heard stories and read articles by the greatest of gurus and guides all talking about going through this "stage" of fly fishing. It is the time when you don't or can't fish as much as you would like due to responsibilities and/or life in general. This stage is ok with me because I know that I have bones made of graphite and fiberglass and veins of fly line. Forever I will have trout dancing in my head. Now every trip to water and every fish caught is a special moment, every minute spent with good friends a time to celebrate.

So I guess I am saying if GlassyWaters seems dead it is not. It is alive and in my head everyday. Even with there is nothing to blog or no time to do it.

Long Live the "Weekend Warrior" and may the person that looks down on them buy a bad spool of tippet.