It's Fishing Season...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 10:53AM 
...As the Bud Light-swilling otter at the Thirsty Otter Resort on Balsam Lake will attest. And yes, I fish. Caught my first musky two years ago. Even have a boat - before you say anything, know that it's a fifteen-footer with a thirty-year-old motor and it seats two adults and a dog comfortably. Oh, it's a plush rig, new carpet, new seats, a place for the cooler and a powered anchor line. Livin' high my friend.
The boat's name is Tangaroa. I learned about this tiki during my stays in the Cook Islands. Among his many traits, Tangaroa protects fisher-folk and those setting out to sea in any event. Often a tiki of Tangaroa might ride in the canoe as a token of good luck. You'll find Tangaroa tikis all over the place, in gardens, public parks, in the shops of Ratotonga. But people off the island don't talk about him too much, possibly because the traditional image has a schlong that reaches to the floor. I'm serious, it's truly like a third leg. You'll have to find your own images of this, I'll not cater to your prurience, and besides, I already gave you an image of a beer-wielding otter.
Back to fishing. I fish for walleye and bass, and have scant luck. My spouse Jane fishes for panfish and fills the boat. This is fine by me, because she also cleans said panfish, which is akin to field-dressing a mouse. Jane learned this skill from her grandfather Mel, who always had a stead hand and a knife sharp enough to split protons.
Jane has taught me that fishing is a serene activity, not an obligation. In the past I'd be fussing with the boat, changing spots, changing tackle, pursuing wily lunkers, failing at same, casting into trees and cursing like a Mamet character. Meanwhile Jane sits like the monk, feet on the gunwhale, calmly yanking up bluegill after crappie and securing dinner. It's this attitude that caused me to christen the boat after an icon of a culture that's learned to relax. I might well have named it after my favorite Italian concept, il dolce far niente - the sweetness of doing nothing.
Here's hoping we all get a chance to do a bit of nothing this summer.
-kwm
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Reader Comments (6)
Here, so others won't have to... http://tinyurl.com/ocl465
Yes, but what about ice fishing, Kevin?
I plan on digging a hole this summer. Wanna help?
Pictorial evidence that otters have absolutely no taste. Now platypuses, those fellas know their beer! And ferrets, too, but they have a nasty habit of drinking everything down to the vanilla extract, and then projectile vomiting into the closest swimming pool, or failing that, the closest letterbox....
So, serious question: how does one actually fish for a particular fish? I thought one just tossed food with a hook hidden in it, and some dopey fish bites at it. I didn't know one could actually fish for a particular fish....
Fish!
You are on your quest to enlightenment through fishing, my friend (fishing is part of the Noble Eightfold Path, right? Maybe it's part of TULIP...I can't remember). But your journey must continue by entering the world of Fly Fishing. Follow the path of the trout and the dry fly, young grasshopper.
--mbh
Ever since I turned the age where I have to fork over money to the government I've laid my fishing hobby aside.
I had to be about 4 when I caught my first bluegill and probably made my parents keep him in a swimming pool for a while. But I've done a lot of Northern's, large mouths, lake trout and walleye far north in Manitoba. We tried chasing after Muskeys in the Lake Itasca area but never caught one.
It'd probably be considered torture nowadays but I loved nothing more as a little girl spending hours jigging for walleyes (we were convinced the trick was bubble gum pink worms, which you can't really find anymore) staying at a lodge that had no electricity.
I had a trick for northers too involving blue and chrome rattlers that were old and chewed up. While I did usually catch more I was probably more attached to them because they were blue.
I really should finally give in and get a license and teach my husband how to cast. Nothing can beat the serenity of watching a sunset on a lake you just pulled 5 pound pikes out of. Well assuming you didn't have to portage to get there and have a hike back in the dark ahead.