As we near the end of June this pretty f’d up year of 2020, I find myself actually enjoying staying at home and NOT fishing! I know what you’re thinking – has this guy gone off the deep end? No, I have rediscovered vegetable gardening, like a lot of people have while self-isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I built a rod for a guy a few years ago, but he broke the rod. Now, with a new tip section, I have a rod rebuild on the bench. I can stretch that out to a week-long project if I stay up late, wake up late, take care of the garden, and really take my time with it.
I did manage to get out fishing one day about a week ago. I drove up to Flagstaff to meet my friend Jeff Martin. He and his wife a have a cabin just South of Flagstaff in a small community named Mountainair. I stayed in my truck nearby for two nights, but the intervening day was spent fishing – more accurately, it was spent driving to find decent water to fish.
We started out at Marshall Lake. There seemed to be a bit of open water from what we could tell, so we hauled out the float tubes, waders, rods, etc… and gave it a try. After about 200 yards of slogging through 6” deep water and mud, we gave up. No open, deep water to be found. So, we moved on to find Perkins Tank, just South of Williams. I had never fished there before, so Jeff took the lead. He sort of got turned around and we ended up at another place called Elk Tank. Elk Tank is a small impoundment that you have to walk about 300 yards to get to. We made the trek with all our stuff and got in the water. After a couple of hours and only two half hearted bumps, we decided to move on.
That’s when we moved to JD Dam, another place I had never fished before. We got in and within 10 or 15 minutes we were both into fish. It wasn’t hot and heavy, but we did manage to land a half dozen small Tiger Trout each.
All the trips this summer that were either planned or actually booked have fallen through or are tentative at best. The Grand Canyon trip happened but I declined to participate. A trip up to Idaho to float the Middle Fork of the Salmon River was deferred to 2021. A trip to Great Basin National Park with Rick Allen is on shaky ground too. If anything, it will have to be later this summer or even fall.
Any other year, I would be in a serious funk. Not getting out and fishing, hell, not even traveling, would be excruciatingly painful for me. Not this year. I’m enjoying the time at home getting things accomplished. I also know that when I do resume my normal routine, my fishing experience will be richer and that much more appreciated. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
I think that sentiment might be a Western interpretation of Buddhist mindfulness. Be here now. Chop wood, carry water. Don’t let the small stuff get you down – it’s all small stuff. Enjoy your life as it is. It’s all transitory anyway.
If you fish, fish with abandon. If you collect stamps, do it with fervor. If you garden, immerse yourself in the joy of growing your own food. You see, it doesn’t matter what turns you on. Let every experience turn you on.