Ep:5 Alone in the Woods is "High Church."

Today I had the pleasure of fishing with my favorite fishing buddy. I floated a local flow and fished as hard as I could for 11 hours, caught a few fish and cleared my mind. I didn't hear a negative word and I didn't see another person... I like to fish alone.

I've spent countless hours roaming creeks and woods by myself since I was a kid  and I guess I've grown accustomed to it. I like the solitude and peace that goes along with that but I also crave the challenge of accomplishing a several night solo camping trip complete with weird sounds in the night and all the other creepy things that may go through your mind. I like that fear, I also like squashing it. I have realized that most of the things I've been warned of that created fear are false...usually old folk tales or stories passed down that were originally told to keep folks off of a mountain that held a precious whiskey still or simply told by someone ignorant of nature. "Lions and tigers and snakes...oh my!"

Enough of that...here are some things that are only OK to do when you're fishing alone but will definitely draw unwanted attention among other fishermen.
-backlash
-get hung up in a tree
-set the hook on a stump
-mix canned tuna with my instant mashed potatoes.
- forgo the day of fishing to wade through the bramble and thickets of a creek bottom to pick pawpaws

***last but not least***
-while camping I can snore all I want.

My favorite time of year to fish and camp is the dead of winter. I like when my face is chilled by the cold wind. I love the sound of snow landing on my hammock's tarp, the crackle of an essential campfire, the deathly quite the winter woods have and to be honest ...trout taste best in winter. I love the challenge of finding fish in 38 degree water then trying to catch them, it's almost as  challenging as finding another human that equally enjoys these same things.

So what benefits does all of this give me that being in company can't? Besides the  challenge of fending for myself, it offers solitude and in solitude is where I'm closest to God. When you are free of petty fear, can stop talking and pay attention... nature can speak in a spectacular way. My idea of the perfect place has no negativity, fear or hate and I've only been able to find it...alone in the woods. It is "High Church!"

Nature... More than meets the eye.

I've been on vacation for the past two weeks and and had a great time with my wife and daughter but hoped for something epic to write about in regards to fishing. I spent three days at Disney World with my family and a few days on the beach. Back at home I fished the past four days straight and I'm still trying to figure out what the bass are doing in my area. I did see a couple of manatees in Florida, several eagles on the some local lakes and caught a personal best stringer of bass on lake Blue Ridge but the actual fishing wasn't very noteworthy...I don't have any monster fish to pose with or a hot lure to talk about but what this past week or so has given me is some insight into what lies under the covers of a fishing trip. To many, going fishing is as much of a spiritual or religious event as a church revival. With the launch of your kayak and that first paddle stroke you enter into a world not much unlike that of primitive man...except the boat is plastic, the paddles are carbon, maybe an electronic depth finder etc. but that's not important. I'm talking about the overall experience we attain by floating deep into nature, places you can't see from a road, where an ecosystem is as perfect as it can be in this day and age. What makes such an enormous impact on myself is when I pay very close attention to these surroundings, there is little to doubt about it's creation. You don't paddle along thinking, "damn, this crap shoot in the universe turned out perfect"...my thoughts are about the precise planning that went into nature, the obvious love and passion it took to create such mesmerizing beauty and to gift you and I with eyes and a brain capable of seeing and appreciating it. That in itself is mind blowing. Whether your god has a name or not ,these trips we take into his creation definitely bring us closer to him and allows us to worship in a way that is free of today's current events, opinions and agendas. We worship by simply being human and in awe of nature. Negative thoughts are left at the gate and few words are needed to get his message across. I started out kayak fishing as an economical way to fish a diverse range of waters and soon realized that it was the way for me to attain a higher relationship with my god, Jesus Christ. My religious beliefs aren't up for debate nor am I trying to convert anyone but if more people had an interest in nature, visited regularly and truly appreciated it the world would definitely be a better place.