Fifteen years ago I launched a project to share fish stories.

Since then, times have changed and the scope of the outdoor tales has expanded as conveyed by the collection of pics that grace the homepage, the About page and today’s post (all of which have been featured in a past blog entry somewhere).

You see, when I began writing I was just a guy with few responsibilities going fishing.  These days as a husband and father of four it’s a whole different world but one that has featured plenty of fodder for outdoor stories on and off the water.

While fishing will still be the primary focus of my blogging, other activities such as camping, hiking and trapping will have their days.  Hey, once upon a time Bigfoot even took over one of my former blogs for a week.

As the saying goes, “Variety is the spice of life.”  I should certainly be able to provide that in an outdoor sense ranging from “serious” wannabe bass fisherman to campfire storyteller to nature photographer to assistant family tour guide to outdoor site interpreter and perhaps even videographer one of these days.

These are the normal sorts of things that one will find detailed on the blog.

 

These types of things are also outdoor related…so that could happen.

And then there was “Herb”, loosely outdoor related though I don’t recall how?  Anyway, expect the occasional unexpected along the way.

Over the years, the “what” aspect of my writing has evolved to reflect an increased appreciation of the little details that make up the big story.  I’ve been accused of rambling, guilty as charged, but there’s a whole lot more to a fishing trip than a half dozen bass caught in a couple hours conveyed by a sentence or two on a fishing forum.  Maybe I’m just not looking in the right places but I just don’t find many fishing reports that provide the combination of stats, details and tangents that I like so I just write ‘em myself.  Granted some may push the contemporary internet attention span but how in the world do you abridge a fish story, just can’t do it.

Sharing the outdoors with a bunch of youngsters also makes for some excellent adventures and blog opportunities.  Watching them experience nature from my grown up perspective takes me back to walking in their shoes (or bare feet) more than a few years ago.  Of course, there’s also plenty of interesting stunts that I would never have imagined witnessing in the days before these smaller versions of me and Julie came along.

These days, a handful of their little bluegill are just as exciting as my somewhat rare five-pound bass.  It’s a treat to supervise some rowing training in the same eight foot johnboat that me, my dad, my brother and some buddies started rowing around local fishing holes back in the early 80’s.  And watching some youngsters actually set aside their devices in favor of taking in the starry, night sky, a roaring campfire or a handful of waxworms gives me hope that nature can still win out over YouTube, Snapchat and the likes.

Admittedly a blog seems to run against that grain, but I can deal.  It’s my getaway to relive getaways when I can’t actually get away.  And I’m old enough that all of this computer age stuff didn’t shape my formative years.  Nature still wins, technology simply enhances.  Besides, I’ve seen this all before having ditched my Walkman, 8-track tapes and VHS movies that once ruled the day.  But until this whole internet, device and social media fad goes the way of the Atari I’ll continue to contribute what I’ve got to promote the great outdoors.  Talk to you later.  Troy