Merwin: New Year’s Resolution

merwinpike

Like to put yourself in this picture? I don’t post many hero shots on this blog, which would be a little unseemly and there aren’t all that many of them to begin with. But there’s another point to this big Manitoba pike I took on a fly rod some years back.

As many did (and still do), I grew up reading various fishing books and outdoor magazines, including this one. I distinctly remember seeing photos back then of Tom McNally, the late, great outdoor writer, holding up big Canadian pike that he’d taken on streamer flies. And I thought to myself often: Someday, I’m going to do that.

It took me a lot of years to get there, but eventually I did and caught the fish and got the photo I’d dreamed about for so long.

You can, too. As the old year ends and a new one begins, take a look ahead. Even if you don’t travel to some exotic fishing destination, somehow, somewhere in the new year you’re going to catch a memorable fish. A bigger than usual bass or maybe a redfish. Salmon, steelhead, or trout, or perhaps even a giant bluegill.

Hopefully, you’ll then get a photo of whatever that fish might be. So put yourself in that picture. And in that case, by all your angling hopes and dreams, the picture will be of you holding what fish?