Simplicity

Simplicity.
Sometimes we just don't need complications. No, we don't ever really need complications. Complications make things, well, complicated! Taxes are complicated, civil law is complicated, your cell phone bill is complicated.

If your love life is complicated, you have a problem. If someone asks you "How's that going for you," and you say, "It's complicated," then it can't be a good thing. Nobody ever said, "It's complicated and it's great!" But many have said, "it's simply fantastic!" 

Simplicity isn't always easy. But it's always emancipating! 

And fishing should be just like that!

I'm willing to bet that more fish have been caught on a simple earthworm than on anything else, ever! 



You can spend dollar after dollar on fancy lures that you can toss, snag and lose. Spinner after spinner, crank bait after crank bait, spoon after spoon. And it can get quite frustrating! There's nothing simple about frustration, frustration is complicated.



But if you lose a worm, a couple of split shot and a hook, you re-rig your line and get right back at it! You've lost a few cents worth of tackle, not a $15, computer-designed lure with an algorithmically, fine tuned paint job. 











A simple worm, or a small minnow, is sometimes all one needs. I caught my first Northern Pike on a worm! Almost all the walleye I caught last year were taken on live minnows and a small jig head. All the mackerel I've ever caught were on a hook with a feather tied to it. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated! 

I've heard many anglers say that using live bait is akin to cheating, it's just not sport! I must beg to differ. The sport in "sport fishing" is all about locating the fish, presentation of the bait, live or artificial, and the fight! The ten-pound steel head I landed this past May was hooked on a well presented earthworm, the sport was in the 15 minutes it took to land it! 

The first fish I ever caught was on a Cheeto! I was four-years old! You would never introduce a child to fishing by casting and retrieving buzzbaits!

Sometimes half the fun for a child can be finding their own bait. Turning over logs and rocks, foraging for grubs; trapping crayfish and minnows with stale pieces of bread; watering the lawn of an afternoon and in the evening picking the worms that slither through the grass! Supplying your own bait, or improvising (Cheetos!) can be half the fun!

I'm not saying we should dump all those fancy lures in our tackle boxes. I'll admit to owning quite a few. And I've lost my fair share too! But sometimes a hook is all the tackle we need.

So, let's keep it simple. Let's appreciate our surroundings, the pure simplicity in nature's beauty. Let's find comfort in the company we keep when we fish with friends and family. When alone, an escape. A simple day on the lake, the riverbank or beach, should be a break from the complications of life. Let's turn angling into "simplicity," not a frustrating activity. After all, don't we have enough frustrations and complications in our lives?  

Ah, simplicity...