Maybe It's Not About The Fish...?

If anyone was to ask me why I fish, I'd most likely say because I love fish and I love fishing. Personally, those two reasons are perfectly valid. Everyone always says to do what you love anyways, but there's a third reason that I don't often consider. The memories. When I look back on all of the amazing days I've spent going out fishing, one thing remains a constant. I had fun (for the most part... sometimes certain days were... well... worse than others), and having fun and having those precious moments of time to enjoy yourself make that moment worth remembering! I think I could safely say that I have caught some big fish, and along with just the memories of those fish, I also remember the people I meet along the way. Sometimes, the people are almost as fun as the fishing! (Sometimes... sometimes...)

In November of 2023, I thought I found a cheat to trout fishing in my home state of Minnesota. One of the local lakes in the twin cities was not fished often during November and during this cold month, the lake was stacked to the brim with trout! There was so much trout that I'd change up tactics and locations if I don't get a bite in just a couple casts. (If you know, you know... the fact that it's November for when this story takes place is important... just hold on...)

Anyway, I took my cousin out for us to enjoy some epic trout fishing. I caught quite a few trout, and my cousin caught his first... and second... and third trout, along with many many more. My cousin even managed to land a massive 20-inch Rainbow Trout (of course, only with my help...)! There were several moments when we would double up on trout, and the picture to go with the story is one of those moments. The picture does not do justice with how much fun we were having... but I guess that's the limitation of pictures... they miss the whole true memory part of the moment... the whole part of LIVING!

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Now, to anyone who was curious about what I meant earlier about "it's November", or if you do know and you just want to know what happened the two of us, well... here it is.

In most of the state of Minnesota, stream trout (in lakes) season closes on the last day of October and does not reopen until sometime in the middle of January. This essentially means that my cousin and I were fishing for trout outside of the open available season time to legally fish for trout. On the plus side, my cousin and I catch-and-release anglers, so we released all of the trout we caught, but to add insult to injury, we were both 16 years of age at the time and we both did not have a trout license. We did not think anything through before we posted the trout online and it certainly did not take long before my cousin called me in a frantic mood. 

Soon enough after the frantic call, I receive a call from a DNR officer who basically was just looking for more information. I calmly (and according to my parents... maturally) explained the situation about fishing the trout lake and my cousin and I were both let off the hook without any repercussions (the pun was very much so intended). Of course, since the DNR did not give us any consequences, our parents certainly did... and I'll just say... our incident has now become a family joke.

Fast forward to my 17th birthday, which was in February of this 2024 year, my cousin and I were reunited and my mom thought it'd be comical to hand both of us a present... a 2024-25 Minnesota Fishing Regulations Guidebook. My cousin and I shared a few laughs about the guidebook present and we studied up for the new year so we can begin our next 365 days of exciting adventures!

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Fast forward to today and I still look back on that day. We had so much fun (despite our remarkable ignorance) and I still reflect and laugh. That day of fishing has certainly got to be one of my most cherishable memories with my cousin and I would not trade it for the world. Yes, it sucked getting an absolute earful from my parents about paying attention to the laws and regulations of whatever I am interested in, but that's life! Life is all about making mistakes and learning from them. My cousin and I messed up that time, we know, but we didn't let our ignorance get in the way of our relationship. Just last weekend, I took my cousin out fishing and we caught a couple fish. The fishing maybe wasn't as active as that day out trout fishing, but I enjoyed my time with my cousin, back out on the water and catching fish!

In a way, the conclusion for this story has some lessons too. First, photos certainly never do justice (and as fishermen, we know this all too well). Second, maybe fishing isn't only about the fish, but also the spectacular memories ane experiences that come along with it. Of course, then there's the third point... the most important lesson from this story...

Read up on your state's fishing regulations so you don't get so damn close to an even stickier situation than my cousin and I did. Remember, we got off the hook easy. You may not be as lucky.