09-17-2025, 02:31 PM
(09-16-2025, 11:43 PM)obifishkenobi Wrote: Great post, your write ups and wisdom has certainly shortened my learning curve at Willard.
Glad to hear that. Even better is seeing you "pay it forward" with all of the help you provide to others who are still behind you on that curve. I know there are a lot of BFTers who credit you with helping them move the next rung up the ladder.
I have had the great good fortune to have been able to sample the fishing in a whole lotta places around the USA, Canada, Alaska and Mexico. Almost everywhere I have gone I have been lucky to find locals who were knowledgeable and willing to help someone new to the area...or that kind of fishing. As I take my old guy mental trips back through time I vividly recall many specific things I learned from others...and how I was often able to modify and apply those things to the fishing in other places...for other species. It also helps to be attentive, have a good memory and be creative.
I am happy and proud of the fishing education I have acquired over the years...and humble in the acknowledgement that I owe it all to the patience and generosity of others. I would be an ungrateful wretch indeed if I played the tight-lipped role a lot of website members seem to adopt...the "Hooray for me and to hell with thee" attitude so common in our world today.
I can honestly say that in my final years of fishing I often got more pleasure from a trip in which I could help others catch more fish than from my own catch. BS? Nope. Don't knock it 'til you've done it.