THAT “A-HA” MOMENT
Originally Published the Week of Aug. 22, 2021 in Western Outdoor Publications
I’ve been watching fishermen (of both genders) for almost 50 years now.
Working as a guide; a deckhand; on TV shows; as a fishing instructor and as a fleet owner now in Baja for almost 30 of those years, I’ve seen a wonderful lot of folks with rods and reels in their hands.
It’s great going out on the water with fishing veterans. Anglers know their stuff. It’s well-oiled fishing.
Lots of muscle memory. Gear is locked in. Technique is dialed-in. No wasted motions. Let’s just fish!
But then there’s the really fun fishing for me.
And that’s with first timers or folks who really don’t have that much experience.
It’s often a day of tangled lines and too many thumbs. Backlashes and upside-down reels. Too much intensity and lack of intensity.
Lots of anxiety and, unfortunately, sometimes lost fish. Too much expectation or not knowing at all what to expect.
But, for me it’s fun! It’s the best time.
For these folks the bar isn’t set that high.
It’s often their first time or a rare time and they just don’t have other experiences to compare this to.
I won’t hear about how the fish are bigger in Australia or about all the fish they caught off the Grand Banks. They’re not going to compare fishing here to battling giant lake trout in Canada.
Nah.
By the same token, they’re not going to compare me to their fishing guide in Argentina or that grizzly old-timer on the flats of Key West. I’ll have to be really bad to look like a doofus in their eyes.
They just wanna have some fun in the sun.
Almost any fish will be their biggest or the most. Or the funnest. Or even the funniest!
When a fish is hooked it can be all “arms and elbows” and “get outta the way!” with lots of laughs and big eyes and straining arms. Lines going every-which way and lots of “coaching!”
“Follow your fish!”
“Keep the line tight!”
“Turn the handle!” (The OTHER way!)
“Lift the rod!”
Sometimes everyone is yelling at once and I often feel sorry for the poor angler be it a guy, a gal or a kid . They’re holding on for dear life and trying to process all the information. All while trying NOT to make a mistake or lose the fish.
It’s sometime just too much!
I’ve noticed that kids are very coachable. Wives and girlfriends are more coachable than their husbands or boyfriends. They are even better when the husband or boyfriend is at the other end of the boat and not watching them so closely.
Guys can be a little different. Sometimes they go all “macho” and figure they can just overcome any fish with brute strength and muscle. Guys can be less inclined to listen to any instructions. They will “bend the fish to their will” and “beat the fish into submission!”
It’s a guy thing! Just the way we are.
Even some anglers that I see year-after-year can need a lot of coaching and instructions.
Things that veteran anglers take for granted often continue to be lessons in frustration year-after-year for some of the regular anglers we see.
Things like tying a hook correctly or using a bait.
Things like properly winding the line on the reel or keeping lines directly in front of them.
Or the proper rhythm of fighting a fish. Lifting the rod then using the reel to wind down as the fish comes up. Just using their gear and technology to their advantage.
I give them all credit for trying and just being out there and still enjoying the heck out’ve themselves. It makes it some of the most enjoyable of times for me to be on the water.
But one of the best rushes is that “Ah-HAH” moment.
It’s when it all comes together. For some it happens pretty quickly. For others it takes awhile. Sometimes years after grinding.
The important thing is they kept at it.
You remember.
It’s that feeling when your dad finally let go of you and you realized you were peddling your bike by yourself down the street.
Or you realized you were driving on the street all by yourself and not thinking about it anymore.
It happens when someone learns to play an instrument.
Or your two left feet disappeared and you’re actually dancing.
Or you watch your kid suddenly realize he or she is reading.
And they realize it too.
Or your toddler is running and not all wobbly and clumsy across the living room floor. So THAT’S what these legs are for!
It suddenly just all comes together. And it can happen at any moment.
No more over-analyzing. No more over-thinking. Pure muscle memory and enjoyment.
It’s when the “student” realizes, “Hey, I got this!”
It’s like that with fishing and I see it all the time and it’s great.
Yea…you got this!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
That's My Story 
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