A Case For Less

Fishing, like any outdoor pursuit can become an arms race. There is always a better, bigger, faster, more advanced boat.  New equipment, new gear, the next generation rod. All that stuff is great; however stripping it all away sometimes creates an experience we often forget to appreciate. A canoe sliding into still black water at dawn with fish rolling and waking undisturbed by your presence, a coffee, an easy-casting hand crafted rod - a handful of flies; it’s not a whole lot to procure. There are no electronics or roaring outboards and aside from a literal hole in the canoe, not much can go wrong. The other day, I did just this.  A solid Striped Bass actually towed a lightweight kevlar canoe a good way.  Mooring balls and ropes created an angling obstacle course and required some muscle to keep fish off them. Ultimately what can we ask for other than an interesting experience on the water?  Sometimes to get that, we need less not more.