# Fisherman's Creed



## Fireline20 (Oct 2, 2007)

If this has not been said before, I will say it.

In fishing, if your main goal is to catch fish, you should find another hobby.


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Fireline20 said:


> If this has not been said before, I will say it.
> 
> In fishing, if your main goal is to catch fish, you should find another hobby.


I disagree, sure I love being out in the out doors and love seeing a sunrise, sunset, moon rise but I aint out there just for my mental health. I'm there to catch fish!


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## lil red jeep (Aug 17, 2007)

Cdog said:


> I disagree, sure I love being out in the out doors and love seeing a sunrise, sunset, moon rise but I aint out there just for my mental health. I'm there to catch fish!


Yep!


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## SALTSHAKER (Dec 5, 2002)

The nice thing about it, is you can do both and still stand on both principles


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## saltandsand (Nov 29, 2007)

Cdog said:


> I disagree, sure I love being out in the out doors and love seeing a sunrise, sunset, moon rise but I aint out there just for my mental health. I'm there to catch fish!



Yep!


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

Cdog said:


> I disagree, sure I love being out in the out doors and love seeing a sunrise, sunset, moon rise but I aint out there just for my mental health. I'm there to catch fish!


Yep, what Cdog said.


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## Fireline20 (Oct 2, 2007)

To clarify my whole thought on this:

1. Wetting a hook and enjoying the ocean is reward in itself

2. Catching is a bonus

3. Releasing what you catch is a spiritual ritual that pays back the Almighty for putting the fish there in the first place.

My creed anyway


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## Al Kai (Jan 8, 2007)

Fireline20 said:


> If this has not been said before, I will say it.
> 
> In fishing, if your main goal is to catch fish, you should find another hobby.


I know exactly what you mean.

I once had a chance to fish with both my Dad and my Son.

We had three generations fishing together.
Its a good memory I will have for the rest of my life.


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## kingfish (Feb 28, 2004)

And the good lord has provided us with some tasty creatures too.


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## redneckranger (Jan 19, 2006)

1. enjoying the ocean
2 getting lucky to catch a fish
3. releasing is spirtual eating is nirvana


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## AtlantaKing (Jul 7, 2002)

I don't see it that way. 

I play to win. If I'm not working to catch, I may as well save the gas and go to casting practice. It's kinda like saying Tiger Woods should be out playing golf just for fun...


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## Fireline20 (Oct 2, 2007)

I love to catch fish and I will keep as many Blues, Spot and Whiting as I can catch....

But I release all Red's and Sharks I catch but if I don't catch a thing, I am just happy to have been there trying.


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## redneckranger (Jan 19, 2006)

he does doesn't he??


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## sudshunter (Jan 20, 2008)

Fireline20 said:


> To clarify my whole thought on this:
> 
> 1. Wetting a hook and enjoying the ocean is reward in itself
> 
> ...


 I totally agree!!!!


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## Oyster (Jun 28, 2000)

Fireline20 said:


> If this has not been said before, I will say it.
> 
> In fishing, if your main goal is to catch fish, you should find another hobby.


You are 100% correct sir. It has to do with the evolution of an angler. We all start out as a novice with much enthusiasm and little skill. We progress to a fisherman with much enthusiasm and much skill, where putting up numbers is all important. Many get stuck at this stage. The pinnacle is the highly evolved and enlightened angler stage, where it’s all about the preparation and the hunt. For those the actual catching is anti-climatic for you have achieved your goal, leaving you empty with the want of the challenge.


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## Tommy (Jan 24, 2001)

AtlantaKing said:


> I don't see it that way.
> 
> I play to win. If I'm not working to catch, I may as well save the gas and go to casting practice. It's kinda like saying Tiger Woods should be out playing golf just for fun...



:fishing:

funny it is just the opposite for me. Time spent fishing is relaxing, when casting it's playing to win.....


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## fishedn (Aug 18, 2008)

Oyster said:


> You are 100% correct sir. It has to do with the evolution of an angler. We all start out as a novice with much enthusiasm and little skill. We progress to a fisherman with much enthusiasm and much skill, where putting up numbers is all important. Many get stuck at this stage. The pinnacle is the highly evolved and enlightened angler stage, where it’s all about the preparation and the hunt. For those the actual catching is anti-climatic for you have achieved your goal, leaving you empty with the want of the challenge.



Sonds like to me you ae done, might as well sit around and just tell yourself how elevated you are, got anything good you want to get rid of.


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## Oyster (Jun 28, 2000)

fishedn said:


> Sonds like to me you ae done, might as well sit around and just tell yourself how elevated you are, got anything good you want to get rid of.


I never said I was there, but just for sport I’ll accept your assumption. I’m sorry you just don’t get it son. It’s never over; it’s just on to a new challenge for another anticipation fix, where again I’ll be rooting for the fish to win the fight. Now I’ll go hang the picture of your bruised ego self in my trophy room.


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## JeepMike (Feb 4, 2008)

Oyster said:


> You are 100% correct sir. It has to do with the evolution of an angler. We all start out as a novice with much enthusiasm and little skill. We progress to a fisherman with much enthusiasm and much skill, where putting up numbers is all important. Many get stuck at this stage. The pinnacle is the highly evolved and enlightened angler stage, where it’s all about the preparation and the hunt. For those the actual catching is anti-climatic for you have achieved your goal, leaving you empty with the want of the challenge.



I like this one!!! I felt like I was evolving to that middle stage before I moved to Hatteras Island, then I got knocked down the totem pole very quickly, and it has been SO much fun. But in reference to the original creed, there are times to enjoy the sunset and then there are times to smoke the fish while the other guys just stare at the sunset. The best part about it is you can do either or and not feel guilty about it!!!


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## fishedn (Aug 18, 2008)

Oyster said:


> I never said I was there, but just for sport I’ll accept your assumption. I’m sorry you just don’t get it son. It’s never over; it’s just on to a new challenge for another anticipation fix, where again I’ll be rooting for the fish to win the fight. Now I’ll go hang the picture of your bruised ego self in my trophy room.


I guess it's just a different level of nirvanna. I prefer more of the thought process as exhibited in "The Old Man and the Sea". I am not quite so pius as to equate my piscatoral pursuits to a understanding of the reason for being here. After all, can one really outsmart a fish, with the brain less than the size of a chick pea. 

Pops, i've more than likely ate more fish than u will ever count coup on. Given every fish his just due, save for a short while in my youthful exhuberation where it had not dawned on me that the fish was struggling for his life, and I just enjoying the pleasure of the chase. Thus i consume what I keep, otherwise it is freed for seed and too fight another day. I would not be suprised if i have released more fish than you also. Wake up and understand that the stress of some of those releases have caused that fish of your pleasure conquest to die, just part of your game. At least I show the quarry the respect to consume it and promulgate the circle of life.

I'm sure an ego has been bruised, but it aint mine. On the other hand, an angler of your risen stature; I would have expected to be released to fight another day. However, if i am worthy, please put me in your trophy room, if you can catch me that is.


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## Oyster (Jun 28, 2000)

JeepMike said:


> I like this one!!!


I wish I could take credit for it, but I can’t. It’s a concept that has been written on by many well known authors and has several variations. I believe either Grey or Hemingway originated it.


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## JeepMike (Feb 4, 2008)

Oyster said:


> I wish I could take credit for it, but I can’t. It’s a concept that has been written on by many well known authors and has several variations. I believe either Grey or Hemingway originated it.


Hey Oyster, I started another thread on this topic, maybe you can tell me some of those books! I would love to read them! Thanks bud:beer:opcorn:


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## OBX Jay (Sep 3, 2007)

*Thought this one was pretty cool*

‘Peace’

I find my peace out on the sand
Beside the sea- not beyond or behind
But on the edge, on the border of foam and grit
Where sandfleas scatter among the crashing froth
And the plovers scurry along in front of each dying wave
Probing after some unseen morsel.

I find my peace in the damp salt air
Blowing in from the tropics or the Stream
Carrying aromas of fish and marsh and memory.
Days long past return as just yesterday-
Recollections triggered by a wafting scent,
Only to dissipate with the changing breeze.

I find my peace in the red-orange sun
Rising from the watery abyss once again as before,
Throwing warmth and brilliance against morning clouds
An endless fantasy fueled by fire-
The phoenix rising again to fly across the sky
And plunge back into the depths.

I find my peace casting among the breakers
With the same hopes of those who fished before me:
The limitless optimism and simple faith
That some morsel of bait or metal trinket
Will bring the surging run of a bull redfish
Or the glimmer of a seatrout in the wash.

I find my peace in thoughts of days gone by,
Time spent with friends I may never see again.
Images fill my mind on the flood tide,
And with the rising sun, and on the evening breeze-
Scenes that can never, will never be repeated,
But each time there is one less memory.

Someday the sun will rise, the breeze will blow,
The plovers will run along the tideline,
And I will be just a memory on the breeze.
Perhaps some passing fisherman will see my face
Briefly in the foam, before it scatters on a new wave,
And find his peace out on the sand.

- R. A. Britt

aka Subourbon
Frying Pan Tower


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## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

Do not disect the things in life that make you happy, just let them be. Dont pick them apart, just let them be...and enjoy them. Dont question yourelf as to why you are standing in the surf at 3 o'clock in the morning, freezing cold and wet, dont question it, just let it be. 



HEY, Every now and then i get deep, so shut up


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## jmscam (Aug 20, 2008)

*Rhode Island Drug Treatment*

HY,
I LIKE UR CONTENT
James

Rhode Island Drug Treatment


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## shaggy (Jun 18, 2003)

Jesse Lockowitz said:


> Do not disect the things in life that make you happy, just let them be. Dont pick them apart, just let them be...and enjoy them. Dont question yourelf as to why you are standing in the surf at 3 o'clock in the morning, freezing cold and wet, dont question it, just let it be.
> 
> 
> 
> HEY, Every now and then i get deep, so shut up



And this I give a budda bing budda bang budda boom.

This is why we fish, not to "catch" and we shouldn't "question".

I go for the catch maybe first early, and the serenity second, but, if I been lucky enough to get enough for me to eat, as no one else here eats fish, then I go to be there, if I get one, and I know I have enough, its a free fish to swim, I still have the sand, the sunrise and the sunset to bring me peace, and many times that is all I need.


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## JeepMike (Feb 4, 2008)

Jesse Lockowitz said:


> Do not disect the things in life that make you happy, just let them be. Dont pick them apart, just let them be...and enjoy them. Dont question yourelf as to why you are standing in the surf at 3 o'clock in the morning, freezing cold and wet, dont question it, just let it be.
> 
> 
> 
> HEY, Every now and then i get deep, so shut up



Thats the best one yet!!! Good stuff... Beatles made a song about this.. "Let it Be"


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## Shooter (Nov 14, 2004)

Jesse Lockowitz said:


> HEY, Every now and then i get deep, so shut up


This ain't the first time I have heard of Things being DEEP when Jesse was around 

Fishing is much like when I use to hunt,,, I had a lady ask me one day "Why do you go to the woods to kill things?" I replied in a mild voice and soft smirk "So I don't walk down the street and kill things" 

I live with-in 5 miles of water in any direction and enjoy fishing close to home but my passion is when I load up the truck and cross the state line my worries seem to stay behind me. I run my own business and yes at times a very stressfull business but when I hit the beach I don't worry about jobs, phone calls, bills, safety reports, bids or what needs to be done when I get home.

The beach is more than just a place to catch fish, it's more of a place to release things and to remember what is most important in life.

On a side note last year my dear, sweet and understanding wife said "Let's pack the camper and spend our 18th wedding anniversary on the beach"  To say I was half way out the door before she could change her mind  It was the most enjoyable trip for both of us we have spent in many a year and I am hopeing she wants to do it again this year


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Shooter said:


> This ain't the first time I have heard of Things being DEEP when Jesse was around
> 
> Fishing is much like when I use to hunt,,, I had a lady ask me one day "Why do you go to the woods to kill things?" I replied in a mild voice and soft smirk "So I don't walk down the street and kill things"
> 
> ...


Dude, thats real deep, but the truth is you dont catch fish...


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## redneckranger (Jan 19, 2006)

we supposed to catch the fish???


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## mountainsalt (Mar 13, 2007)

*final evolution*

You guys have forgotten the final evolution into an unashamed tackle ho. :beer:


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## Fireline20 (Oct 2, 2007)

dipnet said:


> ‘Peace’
> 
> I find my peace out on the sand
> Beside the sea- not beyond or behind
> ...


Some of the most beautiful, tear in my eye prose I have ever read.

God bless all who accept the challenge and the hunt for sole purpose of the hunt itself


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## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

Shooter said:


> but my passion is when I load up the truck and cross the state line my *worries seem to stay behind me. *


Im not 100% completely sure, but I think that is called evading the police :beer:



Jesse


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## Fireline20 (Oct 2, 2007)

From the ocean we came

To the ocean we return


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## Danman (Dec 13, 2007)

I think there is a saying that 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish sooooooo why do us 90% still fish..like the universe there are unlimited answers.


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## jcreamer (Mar 6, 2001)

Cdog said:


> I disagree, sure I love being out in the out doors and love seeing a sunrise, sunset, moon rise but I aint out there just for my mental health. I'm there to catch fish!


Same goes for me.


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## can't fish today (Oct 8, 2003)

Fireline20 said:


> If this has not been said before, I will say it.
> 
> In fishing, if your main goal is to catch fish, you should find another hobby.


My main goal is to not work, so I guess I'm in the clear.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Jesse Lockowitz said:


> Do not disect the things in life that make you happy, just let them be. Dont pick them apart, just let them be...and enjoy them. Dont question yourelf as to why you are standing in the surf at 3 o'clock in the morning, freezing cold and wet, dont question it, just let it be.
> 
> 
> 
> HEY, Every now and then i get deep, so shut up


 Amazing how the youngest whippersnapper on the board comes up with the best answer..

Only thing I could add would be I do pick apart the tide,water temp,wind,conditions,and if there is the slimmest possibility there is a fish swimming out there that will take my hook.. At a point in life you do try to evaluate at least some of the stupid chit you do... And I"ll do all the freezin cold drag me arse outta bed,and wet ya want,just no lightning, and I'm happy... One thing that never enters my mind is what is going on at work..


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## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

Drumdum said:


> Amazing how the youngest whippersnapper on the board comes up with the best answer..
> 
> Only thing I could add would be I do pick apart the tide,water temp,wind,conditions,and if there is the slimmest possibility there is a fish swimming out there that will take my hook.. At a point in life you do try to evaluate at least some of the stupid chit you do... And I"ll do all the freezin cold drag me arse outta bed,and wet ya want,just no lightning, and I'm happy... One thing that never enters my mind is what is going on at work..


No lightning, no work, i like the sound of that.

hopin to not run into lightning tomorrow on my day off...and if they call from work tomorrow, voicemail is all they'll get   



Jesse


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