2021 Year end review

This year I will start out with my year in fishing and move to more about me as I go. Hopefully the format will work for those precious few that only know me through my fishing blog and only want to hear those stories.

Well first things first I had a blown motor in my boat that had to get replaced so I fished with friends early. Got my brand new drop in all inclusive motor package from Michigan Motorz. I have to say I have been well pleased with the motor and my experience with them. If you have to get a new inboard/outboard engine I would say you should at least check them out.

First major fishing adventure was tuna fishing with Captain Ryan on the Midnight Sun. We didn’t get into any tuna this year but got plenty of Spade Fish. 

I don’t think there is any argument that this was our best cobia year. We caught more, more consistently than ever before. Definitely caught the biggest cobia of my life with Vince. We through trial and error and maybe luck found out some new and I would say far better approaches to cobia. 

Next comes Spanish mackerel. I would say we had an average spanish year. If they were out there in great numbers I never found them. Yes we would catch 8 – 10 but we had to work for them. Generally, in what I would say were normal years you would find a very large group and catch until you wanted to finish but that certainly was not the case. We did get a few other people out that had not gone out before so that is always exciting. 

Now when it comes to fishing everyone around here including me is waiting for striper season. Honestly, it took this look back to truly understand how good a season we had. Expectations have grown because we have learned so much about striper fishing that it was easy to overlook all of the times we caught fish, caught limit, had an easy time of it, and just had success. 

I have been trying this year to share what I have learned about the different types of fishing and the skills needed to catch as opposed to fish. I have stated this in other blog posts but I am confident that landing fish is a summation of various items and how many of those items you get right or at least how you score each of those factors ultimately determine the outcome. That of course is the reason that we all know of at least a few people that are dramatically better sport fishermen than we are currently. Think of it as scoring for the olympics, each person is scored on various different aspects of the sport. Fishing is the same so as we all learn and share we all become more likely to be successful.

Conservation is key to our sport. It is in fact a sport because as I have said to everyone I know the most expensive fish you will eat is the one that you catch. The fish we do take is almost always for others or for cookouts with family and friends. We are not there to just fill the freezer (I buy a cow for that reason). But we are not out there to survive but to thrive in life’s adventures and comradery with every person on the boat. There are precious few times you can spend more quiet and quality time with a few close friends than on a boat. We rarely have the radio on, but that does not mean there is no music out there, we sing every song we grew up with (even if it is only 10 words per song). Yes everyone should be exposed to this at least once. 

From a personal perspective 2021 was still a hard year. We left 2021 with worse Covid news than what we started with. I think that surprised most people and it certainly surprised the people we are counting on for guidance. I lost a dear friend in Patsy, we together lost a lot of people that made our world a better place to live. My prayer is that we learn to live in a manner that would honor their lifestyle. It is imperative that we help this younger generation that all is not lost. All is not for naught. 

I was asked to become a deacon at Fairport Baptist Church. Well I am as mystified as you are, well not really, the Lord has a way (His Way) of putting us in a position to be the person he wants us to be. I may not be ready to take on this role but I do know God equips those that are called as opposed to calling those that are equipped. I will definitely be doing everything I can think of to be the kind of person God needs me to be to take on such a role.

I have still been active with our Young Life group in in Northumberland. I still very much enjoy the people and the kids that come to learn about how they fit into the world of crazy and how a relationship with Jesus will be a grand benefit for them as they travel through life. If you have those same questions I beg you to come to Fairport Baptist Sunday mornings at 10:00 and ask them to me or our pastor Neale Schools.

I do thank all of the people that have been reading these blogs. Honestly, I started writing things down because I could not remember from year to year when or how we fished. After doing it for a while I realized I at least like doing it regardless if I am any good at writing. I do this more for a good mental exercise and I hope you keep enjoy reading. I have thought about opening it up for comments but I would not want to read all of the hateful people that do nothing but complain so if you know me you are always welcome to come by and give me some pointers.

One other thing I don’t think I have ever done is show you my boat. It is a 1998 Proline 251. If you see me on the water you can call out for the Mythical River.

I will likely update this as I go this week so come back later.