New Year’s resolutions are flying around this week like clay targets during a skeet tournament; fast, furious and frequent. The New Year spirit, especially the liquid kind, can lead a sportsman to make some regrettable pledges. Promises made in haste are often regretted in leisure!
Many New Year resolutions are health-oriented: stop smoking, eat healthier and exercise more, for example. Others include less time working and more time with family, drive safer, curtail spending, and work on certain household projects. Unfortunately, crazy promises enter the picture sometimes, such as no new guns or fishing rods this year, fewer trips afield and more yard work, or having a yard sale to weed sporting equipment out of the den, basement and garage.
These off-the-wall ideas must be nipped in the bud, since they will all be forgotten or broken by month’s end, and replaced with sane goals that may actually be implemented. How about resolutions that promote outdoor adventure, involve new pastimes and places, and most of all, promise some self satisfaction. If we could eavesdrop on conversations at the Pearly Gates, it’s unlikely sportsmen passing over would be saying, “Gee, I sure wish I’d spent more time at the office.”
More likely the “Dearly Departed” wish there had been a few more trips to a favorite trout stream, traipsing through a choice deer or partridge cover, or sharing a duck or goose blind with beloved two- and four-legged companions. The trick to making doable New Year decrees is to pick pledges you can not only live with and carry out, but may be even enjoy through the entire upcoming year.
By mid-winter every Aroostook sportsman needs a break from the snow, cold, and cabin fever, so why not take the family away for a week of sun, sand, and surf. There are many reasonably priced getaways with sunny beaches, theme parks, golf courses and shopping to entertain everyone. Plan ahead and perhaps you can finagle a day or two to deep sea fish, cast a fly for tarpon or bonefish, or visit a local lake for bass, It’s a win-win resolution for everyone.
A bass fishing buddy and I took two neighborhood youngsters for a day of smallmouth bass fishing this past summer. We taught casting, tied on plugs and rigged plastic worms, unhooked and released fish, untangled line, and spent a good deal of time ducking and dodging to avoid being snagged with a back cast. In short, we never fished less or laughed more, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Resolve to take a young family member or friend fishing this summer, visit a trout brook with a worm and bobber or troll a local lake. It may be the first step in creating a lifelong angler.
Share a special skill or knowledge. Over the last years I’ve made an exerted effort to teach someone a personal craft or ability I learned in my younger years. Perhaps it’s as simple as tutoring a novice waterfowler how to blow a few basic duck or goose calls. Possibly you can instruct someone in tying flies, building a fishing rod, loading shells, carving a decoy, reading signs and setting traps or how to paddle a canoe. Just being outdoors with an enthusiastic neophyte is rewarding, but the satisfaction of a novice learning to love a sporting activity gives a warm, fulfilling feeling.
Fishermen need to practice limiting their catch, rather than catching their limit. Enjoy the fight then quickly and carefully release the fish to fight another day. Of the hundreds of bass I caught last year, all but half a dozen were released, and for every dozen brook trout that took my fly only one came home for breakfast.
Another great New Year plan is to expand your outdoor horizons. Apply for a turkey permit. Just because we don’t have any in northern Aroostook doesn’t mean you can’t travel to southern Aroostook or downstate to hunt. Wild turkey are an amazing quarry and a true challenge to pursue. Every sportsman should try turkey hunting at least once.
Try a new waterway this year, even if it’s only in the next county. Make a special trip to the coast or one of the southern rivers and fish for striped bass. The action is top rate and stripers fight as if they are twice their actual size. If you go on a family vacation plan to spend at least half a day hunting or fishing in an all new region. The best largemouth bass fishing I ever experienced was during a morning outing on a lake within 20 minutes of Disney World.
Take more photos. Make a camera part of your essential gear for each and every hunting, fishing, or boating trip. New digital cameras are easy to use, give wonderful results and never need film. Best of all, you can view the photos on a computer just as soon as you get home; keep the best and delete the rest. Pictures of family, friends and trophy game are a great way to augment memories for the future.
Make plans to explore some new angling areas. It may just be a trolling lake in southern Maine or the trip of a lifetime for salmon in Alaska or tarpon in Belize. Don’t wait until you retire or have more money, by then you may not have your health. Find an adventure that fits your budget and some free time this year, there’s something out there for everyone.
Dozens and dozens more outdoor options come to mind, some near, some far, many simple, a few more complex, but all worth enjoying. Make a resolution not to pass up any sporting opportunities that you truly wish to experience. Possibilities are endless, time isn’t.
I wish each of you tight lines, easy shots and safe outings. Most of all I wish you a healthy New Year, because your new outdoor activities all depend on that gift.
