Not Been Fishing

After a spring's anticipation and some misadventures like having a good rod and reel slip off the dock at Lums Pond, my quest of catching anything has deflated.  I devoted some effort to replacing and restoring equipment, made a few visits to Bellevue State Park's pond, but as the summer heat and humidity became more oppressive, my interest in casting for an hour or so largely disappeared.  I could have worked on some knots but didn't.  I might have expanded the adventure to one of Delaware's downstate angler destinations but haven't.

While I've yet to hook any of those wriggly critters, I have derived satisfaction from some of my skills and underlying efforts.  I can now cast competently with a spinning reel, tie a leader with a nail knot if I have an illustrated guide, replace a broken rod tip, spool an empty reel, and tie a hook with a clinch not, though not yet a palomar knot.  Some limits of near vision, finger dexterity and hand-eye coordination have become apparent but have enhanced my resolve to complete the tasks that require this.

What fishing may have given me is time alone, something amply replaced between my Man Cave and coronavirus limitations that have kept me more alone.  That element of escape, time to set my angling strategy, and patiently wait for a result now goes to my screens, either big screen TV where I can stream and watch laptop where I can escape to a Curiosity Stream experience not otherwise available to me.  Just me, my vision, and its cerebral connections.  All without humidity, safety masks, or tangle frustrations.  

Eventually as the outdoor environment returns to a more seasonably pleasant experience, I'll give the various ponds a second chance.