So a little about myself. I'm a proud family man with a beautiful wife and son who is my everything. If you know me, all I talk about are my passions which are my family and fishing. I've always been busy with my hobbies from Mountain Biking to Bass Fishing. But things come and go too quickly in our lives like hitting the trails of South Mountain, grabbing a few beers for happy hour, hitting the range for trigger therapy, but honestly my friends fishing has always been there and always will be. We grow old of things that don't let us "get away from it all" anymore and things that aren't cool factor 1000. The trails, they have an end! It was awesome to leave my worries at the trailhead but if you don't ride fast enough they catch up. For me it was injuries and my friends moving away or moving on. Not real fun alone and limping everywhere! But then I found my 1961 Ford Ranchero (laugh and I'll hunt you down!) that my mom helped me buy and my dad taught me how to set the points of the distributor with a matchbook. Sitting under the hood and not caring about anything other than learning how to tune up "The Ghetto Cruise Missile" was awesome. Everyone at school had new cars and bad ethics. I'll take built not bought 100% of the time. But the car...gone! Reliability and my families comfort becomes paramount. Precision rifle and pistol shooting were some of the funnest things I've ever done and built strong lifetime friendships doing it. But pulling the trigger sounded more like money zipping out of my wallet than hearing BANG! Having some drinks? You can bet your bottom dollar I've ponied up to quite a few bartenders to pay them to help me celebrate and to forget. But it catches up and takes its toll on friendships, bank accounts (I'm a big boy I'm not a cheap date), and health. I'll take waking up at 3am to fish over 3pm with a hangover 24-7 365. But I still get asked the question from everyone. Why go and sit and try to catch stinky slimy creatures??????? CAUSE IT'S AWESOME THATS WHY!!! Fishing is an equalizer. You don't need to spend much to do it, it's rewarding, it builds memories and discipline, tests patience, and is good for the soul. I can only take so much stress from work and home before needing to purge and refocus. Fishing helps to refocus and rid my mind of the majority of stress or things I find stressful. Fishing has immediate rewards, not just a fish on the end of your line, but physical and mental rewards. I gained a lot of weight after quitting smoking and getting married. I went from around 200lbs to 370 at my max. Not cool! But if it wasn't for fishing I'd still be gaining. I recently dropped down to 270 through proper eating habits. Probably still asking how the hell did fishing help you lose weight? Well let me tell you that boats go faster with less weight in them! That 100lbs added up to 2mph on the ProCraft.....Which we quickly replaced with an extra 100lbs of tackle! LOL! But seriously it was a great friend who I met through fishing and we quickly became great friends. Motivation from my family and my best friend who I fish team tournaments with got me to see the bigger picture and not the biscuits and gravy. My family and friends who are extended family are my everything, without them I am nothing.
For the majority I'm gonna say anglers are the best sportsman on the planet and the best people. We willgive you the shirt off our back, stop in rainstorms to help change tires or trailer bearings, tow you back to the ramp when you've had engine troubles and ask nothing in return except to pay it forward. We need more anglers in this world that's going to hell in a handbag. So let's do our best to set a good example and pay it forward. Remember the good and forget the bad, smile more, love more, and fish more.
Until next time,
Clayton
Until next time,
Clayton
