Maybe I’m early to do a close out post, but this is when I have the time to do it and so I kind of have to jump on it if this is going to happen.
I don’t actually have the time. I’m supposed to be packing up our house because we are moving in either five or six days, depending on when we get the keys to our new home. And that starts to give you a sense of my year. It has been jam packed. It has been full to the rim and overflowing like a beer poured in an pub-like setting.
Work goes well and I continue to love my job. The family is doing well, with my wife enjoying her work, my son being a real joy and my daughter settling into only being with us 25% of the time. My dad is doing well, a year after losing his wife, and is traveling and seeing the world (dude went to Peru, Alaska and even to Africa in 2015). There are some health issues going on in the family, which is the only reason the year might get a downgrade on the overall scale, but all other sectors of the year have been positive.
Well, except for the fishing.
Spring Break was in Abaco, which was both wonderful and feels like it was a million years ago. My second saltwater trip of the year was in the Florida Keys and while it was a good time, it was also a massive ass kicking… the kind reserved for big tarpon hunting or possibly permit fishing. Five fishless days and one day with a few, but none of the big ones I came there for.
I let Davin fish for about 5 minutes… this was a pretty good shot though.
There were two camping trips with my daughter with fishing around the margins and there was a family trip to Montana.
The girl and a couple of hatchery trout, soon to be smoked.
There were several short sessions of casting either bait or hardware for fish in the SF Bay.
There were not the solo fishing trips of years past. I only got one day fishing with my dad. I didn’t fish with my fishing buddies. I didn’t fish the Lower McCloud or the Lower Sacramento. There were fewer fly fishing days than any year since 1997 when I first started fly fishing.
Life just got in the way this year. Not just for fishing, but for the blog as well. I’ve put up fewer posts this year than any other in the five year history of BOTB.
I’m hoping 2016 has a bit more fishing in it and my recent discovery of fly fishing opportunities in the SF Bay almost guarantees more stick time in the new year and likey a fair number of stripers. I hope there is a bonefish in the mix, and maybe a 20″ rainbow too.
I hope your year has been a good one, full of fish and family and fun and that the hard times weren’t too hard and that the bad times passed quickly. I hope your 2016 is even better and I hope that our paths might cross, maybe in some Bahamian bar with a Kalik in hand and a story to tell.
