You know you’re probably doing something right with your life when you wake up hours earlier on your days off than on work days. For many, weekends and days off mean sleeping in, laying around the house, watching a movie. But it seems like fishermen always see the world a little differently.
Steve and I were talking about this during a drive to the Missouri last Sunday. It was one of our first days off after a long stretch at work, and it really would have been nice to sleep in and relax. Instead we both got up at 4am and hit the road. In cold, rainy, cloudy weather.
That’s another thing that separates anglers from the rest of humanity. In the fall, warm, sunny days are frowned upon and bitched about. Cloudy, cold, drizzly, nasty days are celebrated. It’s really been apparent in the shop over the past few weeks. Southwest Montana has had quite the run of great weather lately. Highs in the mid to high 80s and lots of sun. You can always tell the real anglers by how they react to weather like this in late September. Tourists, those who just moved here, or those who don’t know what the hell fall fishing can be are thrilled. The die hards mutter under their breaths and shake their heads.
Fishing a few days ago on the Mo sucked. We were strictly throwing dries and streamers, and boated a whopping total of two fish all day long. The only fish we turned were when it was pouring down rain. But we had a great day. At one point the boat was pulled over, gin drinks were being consumed out of pineapple chalices (more on that later), and the rain was beating down. We both agreed that there was probably something wrong with us if this was what we do for fun. And we also agreed that this was perfectly fine.
Fishermen look at the world a little differently than most, and that is one of the many reasons why I fish.
Photo by Steve Koffink.
