JohnSteinbeckoncesaid,'AllAmericansbelievetheyarebornfishermen.Foramanto
admittoadistasteinfishingwouldbelikedenouncing(公开谴责)mother-loveorhating
moonlight.'
Ican'tsaythatI'mthebiggestJohnSteinbeckfan.Actually,theonlythingIcanremember
readingbyhimwas'ThePearl'whenIwasinmiddleschool,butIcouldn'tagreemorewith
themanwhenitcomestofishing.WhetherIamonaboatinthemiddleofLayLake,fishing
offtheshoresoftheFloridaKeysfortarpon(大海鲢)orcatchingrainbowtrout(虹鳟鱼)in
theShoshoneRiverofWyoming,fishingismylife.
AccordingtotheAmericanSportsfishingAssociation,thefishingindustrybringsinmore
than$116billionperyearfromfishermenacrossthecountry.
Thoughabeautifulpicturetoimagine,fishingismuchmorethanthat.Fishingisaway
oflifeformanypeopleandawaytoescapeeverydaystress.Beingafishermanmakesme
amemberofawonderfulgroupofpeopleextendingtoallwalksoflife.EvenPresident
BushcanbefoundfishingonhisfarminTexaswithhisgoodfriendRolandMartinwhen
thejobgetstoostressful.
IcanrememberfishingwithmygrandfatherwhenIwas5yearsoldonhisboatatLake
Mitchell.AlthoughIdidn'tunderstandwhatIwasdoing,Ididknowthatmygrandfatherwas
happyandthatmademehappy.SincethenIhavespentthepast16yearsontheriversand
lakesofAlabama.
Afteryearsofpractice,beforeandafterwork,Islowlydevelopedanunderstandingof
fishing.Myboss,RicHorst,tookmebacktotheShoshone,andImanagedtobringina
19-inchcutthroattrout.FishingwithRicwasalife-changingexperienceforme.Henotonly
showedmehowtofishcorrectly,butalsotoldmehowfishingcouldbeawaytoescape
yourproblems.
Sincethen,prime-time(黄金时间)seasonseemstotakeforevertoarrive.
Now,withtheendingofFebruaryandbeginningofMarchinsight,theexcitementof
headingouttoLakeTuscaloosaorLakeLurleenbeforeclassesandcatchingsomething
hasfinallyreturned.