Leisure is Exhausting

Fishing on the Upper Mississippi River was lousy all summer. Then, right around the autumn solstice, it started to pick up. The month of October has been outstanding. If 2024 is like other years, the fishing will continue to be good for a few more days and then come to a sudden stop. I used to think that the fish went lethargic when the river turned (i.e., the warm surface water cools, becomes more dense, and mixes with the cold water below), but sometimes the good fishing ends before the cold weather hits, so I am not sure why the fish are active late September/early October only to quit biting sometime around Halloween. All I know is that I want to make hay while the sun is shining.

I tell myself that I fish more for the solitude than for the action, but I know that that is wishful thinking. I focus on solitude when the fishing is bad; I focus on catching fish when the fishing is good. That is not to say that solitude is not important to me whenever I venture out. I stay away from my favorite fishing spots if there are other boats there, and I move away from my favorite spots if other boats show up. Still, there is no question that I go out on the river more often when the fishing is good, and I pay less attention to my surroundings when the perch, bluegills, and bass are hitting.

This year, more than in past years, I have come to realize that fishing two or three times a week is exhausting. I like to fish out of my kayak in places where motorboats seldom go, so I sometimes paddle a mile or two before I even put a line in the water. This alone is work. I also have to lift the boat on and off the roof of my car (which gets progressively more difficult with each passing year). My back gets sore sitting in a kayak for four or five hours, and the pain worsens when I hunker over a cutting board to fillet my catch. By the time I step into a hot shower to warm up and scrub the smell of fish off my hands, I wonder if the day will come when the difficulties of fishing from a kayak will keep me from going out at all. I suppose it is like I just said: I need to keep making hay while the sun is shining.