What triggered this particular topic was a comment I read from a fella bassin' bro who, unfortunately, got caught "with his knickers down," in a manner of speaking. Seems he was out in the garage one day going through his boat. And he just happened to have every last one of his many tackle boxes out on the deck when his wife happened by.
"When she was done asking just how insane I was, she started counting," said our bassin' brother. "In my own defense, I won't at this time...and probably never will...divulge just how many boxes I carry in my boat, or have on the shelf. Neither will I discuss the pegboard full of bags, packages, and so on.
"My initial thinking was that I'm a long ways from having too much. But after some additional consideration, I realized I might be mistaken. After all, I am a big boy, and my boat only has a 150 on it...so maybe I am carrying too much? I came to that conclusion after remembering my experience with the new Champion I recently bought. I got all indignant 'cuz the rear compartments were sooo small.
"I know they say the fancy new baits are really designed to catch the fisherman and not the fish. I have to be honest--that fact describes me. Is it really so bad, though, that I have to leave the lifevests behind 'cuz I just don't have room for them? Just kidding!!!"
Let's face it. Many of us are in the same boat as this gent. We have a difficult time parting with things. "There's always a chance I'll need that particular whatchamacallit at some point in the future or be able to repurpose it" is how we justify keeping the item...especially a piece of fishing gear.
The overall result is that we end up with a large collection of what some people love to refer to as a pile of junk. Rods with broken guides...reels that have lost the war against corrosion...old tackleboxes..cracked coolers...an old outboard that can't be fixed--you get the idea. I even read about one fella who said he kept an old broken-down boat around because he just couldn't bring himself to trash it.
Now comes my little moment of truth. Throughout most of my time in the Navy, as well as my Civil Service employment, I carried a briefcase back and forth to work. The one I had when I retired for good eight years ago was and still is in pretty good shape, so I've kept it close by, figuring that it very well might come in handy somewhere down the road. As it turns out, I was recently able to "repurpose" it from holding paperwork, a small umbrella, assorted medicines, etc. to serving as storage space for all the reels I just got back from being serviced. Works perfectly, too, if I do say so myself.
For some time now, I've been keeping 18 rod-and-reel combos ready for use but decided that number represented gross overkill, especially for a fella my age. I now am going to operate with only 7 combos ready for use, with the 11 other reels neatly tucked away in individual plastic bags in my old briefcase. Beats the heck out of buying a new "reel case," per se, and it works every bit as good.
Now, all I have to do is start finding ways to put the stuff in all those tackleboxes and hanging on the walls in my garage to good use. Got a feeling, though, that I don't have enough years left on Earth to accomplish that feat, given the number of years it has taken me to accumulate this much. I'm taking the stance that it's not "too much," so why should I try to hurry? Everyone who agrees with that idea give me a "heck yeah!"
No comments:
Post a Comment