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Anglers who go to the water with the sole purpose of catching fish are missing some of the best experiences one can have out there.
Gauging success strictly on how many fish we catch fails to take into account the rewards that come from simply being out on the lake and paying attention to what's going on around us.
While some of my best fishing days have been those when the bite was red hot, I can say with a straight face that I rarely regret even the slow days. No kidding.
I look at fishing with a frame of reference that is broader than some anglers' expectations. Now retired from the work-a-day world, I can dedicate a portion of my fishing time to tinkering away from the tried-and-true.
Recently I reported on bringing a vintage spinning reel out of retirement and enjoying, once again, the satisfaction I felt as a teen when I invested my hard-earned money to buy it. The fish I caught on the 60-year-old reel was not big, but it looms large in memorable catches.
My bucket list includes a trip someday soon when the only lures I'll deploy will come from a box of antique stuff Barb claimed from her late grandfather's tackle box. I plan to dedicate a few hours to casting his River Runts and Creek Chubs and even one of the old plugs I carved from a pine broom stick when I was deemed old enough to possess a pocket knife.
That will be fun - and fun is the common denominator for every day I go fishing.
For me, the fun factor includes experimentation to widen the aforementioned frame of reference.
Sometimes, I admit, I set down a productive lure to try something different. This helps me understand whether it was the lure itself that was so effective or perhaps the fish were so aggressive that they would strike anything that ventured into their world. I have pushed that sort of tinkering to the point where I actually try to find a bait that the fish will not hit.
It's also fun to explore different areas of our favorite lakes. It is tempting to linger in a particular stretch of water when the fish are biting, but fishing new water can reveal spots that may pay dividends in the future.
After many years of tournament fishing, I learned that even when I did not finish at the top, the event was successful if I went home with new learnings about the lake and the fish that live there. If my score was disappointing, at least I had learned what not to do.
Sometimes, of course, just being on the water was the reward that made the trip worthwhile. On those days on the lake with a buddy, watching ospreys soar the thermals and listening to the ripples lapping the side of the boat, catching a few fish is a bonus.
If your idea of fun hinges on the day's score, more power to you. For those who get a kick out of expanding their knowledge, the fishing day is an open book waiting to be read.
As with most of life's pursuits, if we are not learning and laughing, we aren't trying hard enough.
Jack Wollitz writes weekly about fishing experiences throughout the Youngstown-Warren area and beyond. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.