Being Thankful

I've gone through a lot in my personal life this year and had not been thankful for much up until recently. The fact is, that all changed when I was given an opportunity to meet a wonderful woman who loves fishing as much, if not more, than I do. When she learned I would be alone for Thanksgiving, Meghan decided to trek up to Virginia to make dinner for a buddy and I. But before we could have our turkey, I had to take her fishing. Meghan's personal best trout was around 23 inches, a very solid respectable trout. I told her we would beat it, so early Thanksgiving morning in brisk 30 degree temps, we trailered my Challenger 206 to the Elizabeth River and set out some live bait. I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story!

We immediately caught several 20" class trout.

It began raining, but she still wanted to stay.

A 29" Monster she caught that eclipsed my personal best trout. Now she has me beat with a 53" Red and a 29" Speck, ridiculous.  



A few photos before release.

 Just before release we put her on the Lucid Fishing Grips to revive her.

I even got a 24.5" citation trout.

The puppy loved it!

The rain continued, but look at that smile!

Overall, it was a great day on the water before starting to cook for Thanksgiving dinner. It does make me disappointed to hear people discount other anglers accomplishments because a fish was caught on live bait, in a certain location and not the way another angler would have done it. The fact is, if an angler is enjoying themselves fishing the way they want, then why not be happy for them? It really comes across as jealousy when you put down other's accomplishments -- let them be happy and join in the celebration.