Again, A Fish For All Seasons...

"For, before men can reason together, they must agree in first principles; and it is impossible to reason with a man who has no principles in common with you." 

Thomas Reid: in The Intellectual Powers of Man 

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link...

"In every chain of reasoning, the evidence of the last conclusion can be no greater than that of the weakest link of the chain, whatever may be the strength of the rest..."
Thomas Reid



This being said, a fishing line is only as strong as its weakest knot.


Yesterday was "Victoria Day," a day to celebrate the birth of the monarch that gave Canada her Independence. But many have lost sight of its original meaning. Just as Santa Clause, and the receiving of gifts, overshadows the birth of Christ, opening the cottage and gardening cast a dark veil over the long-standing monarch's date of birth. 
No longer is it May the twenty-fourth, but May 2-4; the amount of beer to be consumed. 
No longer is it a day to remember a great matriarch, it's a day to open the cottage for the summer that promises itself, and a day to till the garden and put the patio furniture in order. 

It's a day to set the dark on fire with great spectacles of sulfur and phosphorous. 

But my fireworks were to occur before the setting of the sun and after the gardening.

I spent my morning leisurely. I woke before I had anticipated. I made coffee, and on the patio, as the dogs tormented the squirrels and bunnies, I read my book. 

And when my thirst for mystery was sated I turned my mind to the afternoon's activities: fishing.


But for the ice fishing of the formidable winter we have oh so recently found ourselves struggling through, my open water tackle was in much need of attention. 

The Jeep, my tackle box on wheels, contained said equipment. So into her I delved and found the appropriate gear.

The fish sought after that late afternoon was the elusive rainbow trout, the steelhead, plying the rivers in search of a gravel stream bed to deposit her eggs, or him, to fertilize them. But these are strong fish, and the means to tackle them, with the appropriate tackle, takes an eye and a presentation that few are blessed with.


In these streams, streams of crystal clearness, streams of strength and furry, the trout, the large ones known as "steelhead," pursue their inner drive. They seek shelter, food, and the proliferation of their species. They know not why, they just do it!

They eat. They shelter and protect themselves for predators. And they're good at it. But they think not of their species, only of themselves.

So, to take one, to entice one, to lure one to one's eventual demise and capture, shelter and food are the keys!

So, for the predator, presentation is that key!

I'm the predator.

And presentation is the key.

Yet here is my weakest link...

The knot.

After closing the pages of my "mystery," after retrieving my tackle from "The Jeep," after consuming too much coffee, I set myself to tying three knots.
I tied a swivel to my line. I then tied a length of leader to the swivel, size 14. Then a hook, size 10 (a wet/nymph hook at that!) to the leader.

Three knots. 

It mattered not that my line was 15 pound braided, nor that my leader was ten pound mono. The abrasion resistant braid and the resilient, memorable mono were two things; yet the knots were three other!

I struggled with the knots! The light was bright, the air still. Yet those three knots consumed me! They consumed my thought, my diligence and my concentration! My eyes are not nearly as astute, my fingers not nearly as as adept to intricate feeling as they used to be!

Yet those three knots, their adhesion, their tensile strength, their holding power, proved that I can still tie a knot!

My last conclusion was a fish! My principal was putting a bait before my prey. My weakest link was the knot. 

But my knots proved sturdy, they were tied to the capacity of my adversary, and as my weakest links, they upheld the fortitude of that which they bound together and formed the structure of my ordeal.

Is it reasonable for a man to fish? To cast angle upon the waters? Were our minds not so introspect that seeking prey from the depths would be so elusive? Should we not feed ourselves? 

And should a knot, be so not important?

And a fish was caught.


   

   

Today I went for a walk.









Our walks take many turns. 





Unfortunately my walks as of late have not been on dirt paths but upon concrete and asphalt. Today I remedied that. I walked the woods. I followed the streams, I went where the birds sang, trod in the mud, the dirt and the moss!

Spring might have come late but it has arrived! The flowers, the ferns, and the fins are there. 

There's some catching up to do. Mother nature will push her child Spring along. Summer will arrive and the abundance of Autumn will be bountiful. 

But I need to catch up. Mother Nature doesn't care for me as she does her own. It is my responsibility to catch up. My walks might be shorter this year, and less frequent, but I will still walk, find the time, and see the progress of the year.