Spring May 2002

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Date: December 21, 2002 at 16:10:24
From: ken, [pool-64-223-39-246.prov.east.verizon.net]
Subject: Spring May 2002

People are always giving advice and people are always getting irritated by it. Those fellows you met did not want to hear that you caught fifty fish because it diminished what they did. I don't tell and that is a good thing for me because it stops the conversation before it gets testy. People will tell you their good news but you have to look them in the eye to be able to discern whether or not you should keep your mouth shut or open up. You can tell a lot about a fisherman by watching him fish for a few minutes. You can tell if he wants to fish or if he wants to talk. You just know. You can learn a lot from people by being friendly and a bit reserved. I often talk to bait fishermen and ask them simple questions like "How's it going? Boy this looks like a good spot catch anything today?" The answers you get are often eye-openers. "Naw, but my friend was here this morning and he said that all the guys caught a bunch of big ones here on eels until the sun came up. But they're not biting now I guess." There is a wealth of information on the beach if you don't care about who is the best in the pecking order and just make the most of your time. There were two fish caught on that beach you fished that were over sixty pounds last September and they were both caught on eels. You can find out a lot of good stuff if you are open to people even if they aren't as good at fishing as you are or even if they fish in a different way and want to tell you what to do. I have a friend who always walks right up to anyone and asks how they are doing. It used to drive me nuts because I was raised to keep my mouth shut and avoid people when I was fishing. I asked him why he did that once and what he said blew me away. His father and mother were both deaf and so from a very early age he was the one who asked questions and then told them what was what in sign language. He was raised to do the opposite of what I was taught to do and he was doing the right thing. He said, how else are you going to find out what is going on unless you ask and he would get answers. He said sometimes he would meet someone who would get upset by his questions but he dismissed that by saying "That guys got a problem." I learned right then and there that sometimes what we think is the right way to do things may not be the way that everybody thinks is right and they are just as right as you are when all the reasons for why they do what they do are known. Some people may appear rude and invasive but then again they may have had deaf parents. Who knows? I think of talking to people on the beach as a sport and that way I never take offence even if they are giving it. I refuse to take or keep it. It screws up my fishing for the rest of the day or night if I don't let it go.

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