Grousing

I wish this topic has something to do with upland bird hunting but it's just run of the mill petty grumbling. Last week disappeared into a haze of sniffling, sneezing, headachy, lethargy brought upon by a vicious head cold. I managed to struggle through work with a few naps interspersed during the day but didn't get any of my late season fishing goals accomplished.

Then comes the weekend. I was supposed to spend Saturday floating the Deerfield with my youngest son. That got postponed by a combination of a rainy morning and the remnants of the aforementioned head cold. And to add insult to injury, I was feeling better by 10 a.m. and the sun was out at noon. By mid-afternoon Ann was getting weary of my pouting and grumbling.

This seems to be one of those seasons where wrenches routinely got thrown in the works. Mostly due to rain. Sometimes due to work. But lots of other things, too. For example, I decided to start fishing for Stripers this year and it seems that Stripers are nowhere to be found. I think my decision immediately preceded (and, perhaps, in something akin to the butterfly effect, caused) the collapse of the east coast Striper population.

And just when I'm feeling sorry for myself I recall that I did spend a wonderful day fishing a Blue Ridge stream this spring. And I found a hole on one river where large fish reliably lurk. And I caught spooky wild rainbows in a meadow stream above Bridle Veil Falls. And I spent a week in Alaska fishing with two old curmudgeons who were a pleasure to fish and travel with and caught myself a very large Rainbow trout.

So perhaps this sport is not for the dogs.

Jon is dragging me to Pulaski in November. That should be a good time regardless of the fishing. And my brothers and our families are gathering in New Hampshire this weekend for a long overdue session of sitting around retelling family tales and making new ones.

I guess this fishing stuff just has to be taken in context. And aside from this nagging cold (and the fact I passed it to everyone else) that context is pretty good.

• By the way, in case you missed it, check out Kirk's posting on Lawn Trout. Good stuff there.
• Also, I am deeply envious of a trip a bunch of folks put together this past weekend in Colorado. Check out Erin's and Sander's posts. You can get links to other participants from those reports.