Sunshine State Fishing
Fishing As A Sport
By: John Burlew II
Years ago when I would go fishing up in the canyons, I would start early in the morning and continue until late at night. Now the State Laws stated that you could fish from sunup to sunset. Sometimes that did not happen. One time comes to memory, it was early spring, I had worked all week and this was MY weekend to fish, so Saturday, at first light, I was out with my fishing rod, casting for the elusive trout. I had not got my limit, because if I had have, I would have stopped and gone home with a nice bagful of trout to go on the table or in the freezer (yes we had freezers back then). My day had just lagged along, I was getting tired and wanted to go home, but I still didn?t have my limit so I would have to stay a little longer, or at least until I had got a few more.
That darned ole sun just kept on creeping along and it was starting to get a little darker. I was fishing in this wide spot in the little river, I was so intent upon catching that darned fish that I didn?t have any idea what was going on around me. I had my right hand on the fishing pole, my left hand on the line and my mind on nothing but what I was doing, all of a sudden this LOUD SPLAT came and scared the dinghies out of me, I went straight in the air, my fishing pole went flying into the air and splashing in the calm waters of that pond. When I finally came to earth, I seen this Beaver swimming ferociously away from me. What had happened was the Beaver did NOT see me, I did not see the Beaver and the Beaver was doing what Beavers do best, swimming along trying to repair HIS or Her Beaver Pond, The Beaver spatted its tail on the water when it seen me and scared the pants off both of us. Needless to say, I stopped fishing that night (it was past sunset anyway).
I can remember trying to cut bait and making the normal mistake of letting that darned knife slip down and take a bite out of my index finger. I couldn?t find my first aid kit as I must have misplaced it, so I had to cut my tea shirt to get myself a little bandage. No one but me was there, so I had to try to figure out just how I was going to get that strip of tea shirt around my damaged finger using only one hand, now let me tell you a little secret, it was VERY difficult to do; therefore, my makeshift bandage kept slipping off and I would have to try putting it back on. I finally just hung it up and went home that night. That darned cut never did heal properly, I still have a scar there and I remember when I was unprepared out on my fishing trip without my trusty ole First Aid Kit. I now have 2 first aid kits in my automobile in case of emergencies, not one, but TWO, just in case I need one. Most people think I am a little nuts, but then I would rather be a little nuts that bleeding to death out on some lonely night from a fishing trip. Fishing is just too much fun to allow things like cuts, fishing hooks jabbing into my hand, leg, or arm to take away my enjoyment. There are just too many things that can go right or go wrong not to be prepared. The little price you have to pay for a good First Aid Kit is just too valuable to go without. You only have to use the First Aid Kit one time to pay for itself...just once!
A few weeks ago, I went up to Canada to visit my nephew and his family, while we were there, they had a fishing trip for Salmon on the agenda. Now it is not as warm up in that region around Victoria as it is here in America. Our first trip was cancelled due to bad weather out on the bay, so we rescheduled for the next day. I am handicapped and require an Electric Scooter to get around; therefore, I was restricted in what I could do and couldn?t do. We got our fishing gear all together, I didn?t have my gear, so I had to rely on others for their preparedness. Off we went into the foggy morning with out fishing poles in the water, the boat roaring along. I had never been fishing for Salmon before, so this was new to me completely. We waited for hours before we got our first bite, we got the fish up close to the boat, then it decided it did not want to participate in our sport, so it just flipped off the hook and went into the depths of the bay. We didn?t get another bite for hours, hen when we were fixing the bait for fishing, one of the guys on the boat cut himself quite badly. The first thing I asked was ?Where is your First Aid Kit?. The Captain admitted that he did not have one. Another shirt was cut up for a makeshift bandage, just WHY can?t I ever learn? When you leave the planning in someone elses hands, you still have to ask the right questions to make certain you are in safe hands.
Our Fishing trip was over and so was my week in Canada. The fishing trip was cancelled one time, then the injury caused the other one to be cancelled. That was not a very enjoyable fishing trip, but one thing came out of it. Now that Captain has 2 good First Aid Kits on his boat so that will NEVER happen again, unless something else comes along, I can only answer for one person and that is ME. What if I had have been injured on that trip. I will tell you this, it will never happen like that again. I will take my own First Aid Kit rather than depending upon someone else. I make enough mistakes all by myself without having to have others put me in that spot again. The injury was not life threatening, but the realization of it could have been makes me worry about myself and being prepared. I have the mistaken idea that everyone is like me, but again, we are all different, thank goodness. I will take care of me, you take care of you and we will both be happy. But do take care of me whenever you can and I will take care of you if I can.
When you think you need a good quality First Aid Kit, you can visit this website and see just what you can get for yourself and your family www.ourfirstaidkit.com. You will find other things beside just first aid kits, but you will have to decide just what you will get and what you will not, BUT do get a FIRST AID KIT. If you used your First Aid kit just one time, it would pay for itself. You don?t have to get your First Aid Kit at this site, but do get at least one right away, your life or your families lives could depend upon your actions now. You will need at least one for your home, one for our automobile, vacation, work, boat, fishing trip, or just about everywhere you happen to go and whatever you happen to do. Make certain you always have easy access to your first aid kit at all times, and know where it is. Too many people get a first aid kit and put it in a good safe place, only to forget where it is or how to get to it easily when they need it. Don?t let that happen to you, your life could depend upon it.
Hi, my name is John W. BURLEW II, I am 73 years old and have not lived the way I should have lived, for now I am handicapped and have a hard time getting around and doing the things I enjoy. I used to be an avid fisherman and would go out fishing every evening after work and sometimes I would spend all day Saturday at some stream, river, or lake. All Fish knew me very well and tried to keep away from me as they knew I would catch them and put them on my dinner table with family and friends. |
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