Recently I have noticed.......

When I was younger - and full of piss and vinegar, I wanted to fish every chance I got. I wanted to fish when I could, when I couldn't, when I should, when I shouldn't.....just all the fricking time. And for a while after I got to know how to fish, wanted to catch as many as I could. Limit? What limit? Well, after that, I did get to a point where I stayed within established limits. I still wanted to go where I shouldn't to fish - but THAT'S different. Lately, I am running into people that have just started fishing - and are absolutely crazy about it. They want to catch every damn thing - sharks, rays, sunfish, sardines and just any damn thing that swims. I am just not that excited about catching any damn thing any more. I went fishing with a neighbor who just started fishing a year or so ago - on my boat. For the most part - I am not much for soaking bait. I like using artificials - just lures of any sort. So out we went on boat out of PSL - going my usual 'bat out of hell' speed. I started to go to some of my favorite numbers on the GPS. Since I don't use bait - if the fish aren't interested in my swimbaits or jigs, screw 'em - I'm moving. Well my buddy is using bait. He's getting bites. So, I'm starting the engine and moving around (my usual) and looking for a better spot - while my buddy is not having much time to soak his bait. Naturally, he got a bit irritated and started to say so. He started to say something about the importance of catching a limit of fish. Well, I don't really give a shit about a limit of fish. I just wanted something to eat my swimbait lures. If I caught a limit, great - but I certainly don't give that much of a shit about that. My buddy got to a point, where he just wanted to soak his bait anywhere. He just asked me to stop the boat - whether there were any marks on the fart-o-meter (that's fathometer, for the unaware folks) or not. So we ended up with less than one (1) limit of fish - and I gave them all to my buddy to take home. After we got back, I'm cleaning and scrubbing the boat. And all the time I'm thinking - what a pain in the ass it is to take my boat out. And I am also thinking about the difficult person I have become to fish with - a geniune asshole by any bait fisherman's standards. I could have paid my 70 or 80 bucks and gone out on a party boat - and not have to worry about cleaning any damn boat.

I guess what I'm trying to say is - I still love to fish. I still can't think of any other activity I would rather be doing than fishing. But my own rules are not the same. I no longer want to fish for anything that will bite a hook. I no longer want to catch all I can. And presently, I am not so fond of cleaning my boat after going out with it either.