fishing

I went fishing yesterday for the first time in a few years. I actually had a very good time for 8 hours despite losing two fishing poles with reels, breaking another rod, losing $40 worth of lures and not catching a single fish. Well, I had one all the way up to the shore, but it got away as I tried to pull it over some rocks because we had no net. I think my high times might have been dampered had it been my gear that we lost, but luckily it was all Brian's so no harm done. We started out at Lake Oroville, thrity minutes from Brian's house and fished off of steep, crumbly, narrow rock ledges that we had to walk along with our arms full of fishing shwag and pets; yes, Brian brought his dog along and the dog needed to be carried the whole time. Brian had his arms full (two poles and a 64oz. soda which he refilled thrice over the course of the day) so I had to carry the dog and the tackle box. There were several points where we had to pass the dog around corners of rock that jutted out over the lake 20 feet below us so that we could cling onto the rock as we passed. We ended up doing much more hiking than fishing at Oroville and after getting not so much as a bite from a fish in 2 hours we decided to do it all in reverse and head to a stream that feeds Collins Lake, which is right by Brian's house. Once we got to the stream we walked to the trunk to retrieve the fishing poles only to realize we'd left them at Oroville in front of the car. So we jumped back in the car and Brian zoomed (I had to ask him to slow down several times because Brian is a terrible driver and I don't like riding in cars in the first place) back to Oroville where the poles had already been stolen. We made the drive a fourth time, slower this time, and headed back to the stream. There we fished, and lost lures, and had a couple bites and the afore-mentioned almost catch for about six hours until it was too dark. Tucker the dog ran away several times and I had to go get him because Brian was perpetually back at the car changing his clothes (you have to know Brian to understand). Aside from fetching the dog occasionally it was a very relaxing time and I think I finally understand the appeal. For several hours I just listened to the water rushing past and let random thought about nothing but casting my spinner and reeling it back in. It was meditation but better than the traditional sort as I was meditating with the chance of catching a fish for my efforts. When it got dark and Brian said we should go I made one final cast, effectively launching the furthest section of the 4 piece fishing pole into the middle of the stream. I tried to reel it back in but it sank too quickly as I lost the my fourth lure and that section of the rod when it snagged on a bush and my line broke. The fish that got away wasn't anything too impressive, but the poles that got away were pretty nice.