Posted on 03/14/2010 7:22:06 AM PDT by Kaslin
“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” —Henry David Thoreau
God, I love fishing. I dig fishing almost as much as hunting (almost). I love it so much that I moved to a place that is one of the top angling spots in the world: Miami, Florida. And you know what? I milk these waters as much as a working man can.
My fishing roots extend back to Texas and my rowdy childhood when my dad used to take me and my brother fishing on the many lakes, ponds and rivers the Lone Star state has to offer.
Our stringer was typical of a freshwater 60s and 70s Texas catch: perch, crappie, black bass, white bass, channel cats, carp and gar. It was way cool for this little redneck. Yes indeed, Bob-Dawg, I dug it all.
For example, as a young punk I took insane pleasure in:
- Buying fishing gear. Very cool. - Practicing my casting accuracy in my backyard (which still serves me well to this day) - Reading Outdoor Life and getting pumped on its fishing lies … I mean … stories - Experiencing the inability to sleep the night before getting up and declaring war on the fish - Buying bait at freaky bait shops run by guys I swear worked as extras on the movie Deliverance - Arriving at our strategic and wild location and having the privilege of watching and listening to that which is untamed waking up and beginning its tooth, fang and claw survival of the fittest exchange with Mother Nature. Life and death in its purest form, Nancy boys. - Taking a crash course from my dad and other gents regarding different lures and the various ways to present them - And then, of course, the entre, actually catching a fish and grappling with my gigantic aquatic monster which was, in all reality, a pound-and-a-half bass. (I didn’t care, though, because as far as I was concerned, I was Ernest-Frickin’-Hemingway’s character Santiago, and that little bass was my Marlin.) - And lastly, basking in the great satisfaction later that evening of watching adults eat what this rugrat provided. I am iron man. Dun, dun. Dun na dun dunna dunna dunna dun dunna dun. As a young squab, the whole fishing enchilada, from soup to nuts, represented what Bryan Adams called, “The best days of my life.”
With the busyness of college, getting married, raising little girls, making money, and kicking ass, I got out of the fishing groove until I moved mi familia to Miami where I became a fishing kid again and quickly returned to my angling roots.
After a couple of years of getting settled in, weeding through the rip-off charters and bad captains, I landed on two Capitans who are worth their weight in gold. After the Lord blessed me with those two leads I quickly called my dad to get his butt on a plane to bend some rods South Florida style. And oh my God have we crushed the fish.
Not only has pops been a part of many insane hauls, but my wife and my two infamous daughters have, as well. Matter of fact, my girls grew up catching big game fish on light tackle twice their body length without daddy’s help. That’s how they roll, boys. Grow a pair or go home.
In addition to my familial fishing trips, we have had the pleasure of fishing with folks from all over the world and from every conceivable walk of life: from diplomats, bestselling authors, pundits, big name rock stars, Fox News contributors, missionaries, attorney generals, terminal cancer patients, and good buddies at church, to at risk teens without hope and without a clue. We have always had an amazing time, sharing in our mutual addiction that we seek no cure from (i.e. the screaming reel).
The fish we have caught, of which I have the pictures and videos to prove, include: giant bull sharks, lemon sharks, great hammerheads, black tip sharks, spinner sharks (the most enjoyable shark to hook), dusky sharks, sailfish, dolphin, goliath grouper (and their many cousins), permit, bonefish, giant barracuda, tarpon, snook, speckled trout, jack cravelles, amberjack, ladyfish, blue fish, snapper, tripletails, yellow jacks, kingfish, Spanish mackerel, bonita, tuna, red fish and a couple of things I didn’t know what the hell they were.
We have caught them all: small, medium and large. In the gorgeous ultra marine blue seas of the Atlantic, to the gin-clear flats of Biscayne Bay, down to Key West, to the murky fish-rich waters of Chokoloskee, the Ten Thousand Islands area, and the gorgeous, uninhabited sanctuary of Flamingo.
Yep, I blame fish for a lot of the great times in my life. Check it out: All around the personal pursuit of my finny little friend, my life and my relationships have been greatly enriched via stretched monofilament and high-pitched Diawa drag screams.
Which brings me to the point of my column. As much as I have been there and have done that from a fishing standpoint, as you can guess from my eight-hundred-word gush above, I can’t imagine not fishing for the rest of my life nor my kid’s kids not being able to be anglers should they so desire. Fishing is one of the cherished liberties and activities that keeps me giddy about the great American experiment.
That’s why when I hear crap that Obama and his “progressive” ilk want to ban fishing, it gets me … uh … how shall I put this … um… angry. Yeah, that’s a good word. Not only are they upending this nation on many different economical fronts but now they’re talking about the recreationally and economically disastrous move of banning fishing? What’s next? Are they going to ban apple pie? Blonde-haired girls? Chevrolet? No, they own Chevy now. What about baseball?
For those who say, “Ah, it’ll never happen in America,” that’s probably what some folks in Ontario thought before the World Wildlife Fund and the International Fund for Animal Welfare completed their successful campaign to convince the Ontario government to shut down one of the best managed big-game hunts in North America, which crippled many small businesses and the tourism economy of communities across northern and central Ontario.
My advice to fishermen everywhere is to refuse to be silent and scream now via phone calls, emails and faxes to your reps as loud as your Penn reel would wail with a 50lb kingfish strippin’ off its line.
For more info on what BHO and his tree humping boys plan to do, go here … and here. Lastly, click here to fish with my Captain, Gavet Tuttle, at BackForMore.com.
My son works two full time jobs and his ONLY hobby and way to relax (when he gets a chance to) is to go fishing. I’ve no doubt that he would (a) Go to prison over being denied this hobby - and/or (b) Shoot to kill any LEO that tried to stop him.
BTW, I’ve enjoyed fishing in the past. I just don’t bait my own hooks.
“We tried to tell people it wouldn’t stop with smoking, but we weren’t believed.”
BTT
Weenie.
;o)
I'm curious what they've done to attempt this?
I don't think ANY lifestyle is safe from these people. All occupations, religions, and hobbies are at risk. They want your guns, gardens, farm animals, pets, and now fishing poles. Even if Obama decides against this, the fact that he has surrounded himself with kooks who believe these things speaks volumes about the real Obama.
What next?
I think you can blame Disney for some of this nonsense altho' prior generations could distinguish cartoons from reality.
If the Sheriffs of each county refuse to enforce it based on its unconstitutionality then the law is meaningless. Are the enviornmental weinies going to keep fishers and hunters out of our land?
Primarily through refusing to limit liability exposure to anyone and anything that has to do with aviation. This has made flying very expensive for most private aircraft owners, especially if you want something that is actually fast enough to go somewhere, unless you build your own. The result is the price of new and used airplanes has gone through the roof, parts prices have gone through the roof and insurance coverage has gone through the roof. I don't see anywhere near as much air traffic as I saw 25-30 years ago.
It's the same reason our health care has gotten so expensive. A lot of people discount tort reform and how much it would lower health care costs. They argue that there aren't that many doctors and their increased liability insurance premiums only affect the market anywhere from 5-10%. The problem is the liability exposure doesn't stop with doctors. It's reflected in the cost of every medical device, the cost of hospital stays, every nurse, technician and health care worker, all of it. We all are paying dearly to support ambulance chasing lawyers who attack every industry. Wait until gubmint health care is a reality. They'll be able to tell you what you can and can't do. Forget skydiving, hang gliding, motorcycle riding, softball, you name it. Control is what it's all about. It's the big banana they are after. Wait and see.....
There's been a bill being floated in the House that would make back yard gardens illegal. In light of that I think pitchforks would be a good thing to bring to the next Tea Party march on Washington.....
Interesting, hadn't seen that before.
A couple years back a new fed park guy tried telling the Indians that they couldn't shoot ducks on the spring migration, something that is a seasonal activity for thousands of years. They ignored him, shot 25-30 ducks a day for several weeks and the fed guy was laughing stock of Alaska. It would be like telling Christians they had to stop going to church.
They have been having problems with salmon in the Yukon, by catch out in ocean by international fleets out paces what the local river subsistence people get in their set nets. So last year, the feds said had to restrict fishing in river some; Indians ignored them; then many Whites started setting nets. Feds found out pretty quick they were going to have a war on their hands and backed down after a half hearted show of force, no prosecutions. The king had no clothes.
I with you. I cannot see WHY more people don't see this.
Law is the ONLY profession that remains largely UNREGULATED with regard to their own liability...there basically IS NO LIABILITY.
Predator lawyers go around creating trouble where there isn't any and they don't get called and punished for it. Meanwhile all other people, industries, and professions must guard against these parasites at great expense from OTHER LAWYERS.
Can you imagine Physicians going around breaking legs only to create business for Physicians? Or in your case, Pilots going around "accidentally" taking people to the wrong place and then charging them more to take them where they really wanted to go in the first place? This type of behavior is NOT TOLERATED in all but the LEGAL PROFESSION. I have rarely seen a lawyer rebuked in the news.
A man, child, or woman while fishing, is at peace with themselves and with God.
Yep, the Bar Association is useless. I own a rental property in Florida. Commercial building, leased to a national company. The tenant decided to have the parking lot sealed. Okay, fine. They hired some jackleg out of south Florida to do the work on about three dozen of their stores. The tenant wasn't happy with the work, so they withheld payment until the work was completed to their satisfaction. Also fine. I would do the same thing. Trouble was this jackleg hired a sleazy attorney out of Miami to send out letters to the property owners that appeared to be lien papers with a threatening letter stating that if I must pay the balance shown and that a lien had already been filed against my property with the intent to seize control of the property if I didn't pay up within 10 days. They also included some photocopied page supposedly quoting a Florida statute that gave them the right to seize the property for the unpaid balance that I'd never agreed to pay in the first place. I noticed right away that not only had it not been filed with the Clerk of the Court, but the "filing" they sent me was for Miami-Dade county, not Escambia county where my building is located.
This clearly was an officer of the court using an instrument of the court to try to defraud me. I filed a formal complaint against this lawyer with the Florida Bar Association and they brushed me off like a south Florida 'skeeter......
Nor would I. The good part is there are 88 million known, and probably a few million more unknown, gun owners in this country, most of whom have been buying guns and ammo like they are going out of style for the past two years. They can't come after everybody. I really don't think most of the standing US Military would even consider firing on American citizens that are trying to save their Constitutionally protected freedoms. The people in charge of this nonsense are tying their own nooses and apparently don't even know it. It's all but certain to get ugly. I'd almost bet on that....
I’m tired of being bullied around!
Don’t you think it is time for our leaders to focus on JOBS and SCHOOLS?!! Things that We The People want and need.
How do we take our Country back from these Bullies? Can we impeach the President? Then what? Biden takes over? Or even worse yet Nancy Pelosi.
We voted ourselves into a big mess, don’t forget America. The next election is time to clean House. Vote out all these bums.
It's like a big game of bluff, return bluff, and one-up super bluff...It doesn't end until somebody blinks. And usually there isn't any real legal muscle behind any of it except falsely representing a document, law, or oneself (the Lawyer that is) as having jurisdiction or license in the varying districts in question.
How is that ANY DIFFERENT than a regular person making a false police report or impersonating an officer of the law?
The difference is, the Lawyer gets away with it ALL THE TIME while you and I would go to jail.
The game is costing the economy untold billions or trillions of $ in prevented innovation, productivity, and investment. And nobody is pushing necessary reforms.
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