Surviving America 019: What is Fishing

[00:00:00] Society in every state is a blessing. The government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil. The future has already arrived. The trout do not rise in the cemetery, so you better do your fishing while you're still able.

[00:00:30] Sparse Gray Hackle. Sparse Gray Hackle is the author of that quote. Sparse Gray Hackle. The trout do not rise in the cemetery, so you better do your fishing while you are still able. Man, that's a big one. That is a big one, folks. I'm back. Sorry. It's a little finicky, this plug-in here.

[00:00:54] Let me see what's going on. We're gonna do a show today. You're gonna see me today for sure, but we're gonna do a show about fishing. I had like a heavy topic set for you and I was thinking, you know, let's do... I don't know. It's just been a lot of heavy stuff going on and I was thinking about a number of things, not the least of which, you know, being what's happening at the southern border

[00:01:22] and so on. But what I decided to do instead was discuss, you know, what has made up a massive chunk of my life and I don't know. It's just one of these... It's like a life hack almost, you know? What fishing has been to me throughout my days is a lot like a life hack and I learned it from my father,

[00:01:48] who was also using it as a life hack. And I want to go into it all. And the reason I titled the show What is Fishing? Is because it's one of these... It's one of the rare... One of the rare activities, particularly in the outdoors, that is so varied, right? It's like... It's hard to think of another thing.

[00:02:14] I don't know if there is another thing that is as varied in terms of like an outdoor sport or an outdoor activity. Do you know what I mean? Like, you might not know what I mean so I'll have to elaborate on it. But if you go rock climbing, you're climbing rocks. Now you could be bouldering, right? Or you could be climbing, you know, real high and you know, that kind of thing. Morning, Jay Ferg. You go hunting, you're in a blind, you're in a tree stand or maybe you're

[00:02:44] stalking. But when you say the word hunting, what's up, Kumiori Farm? Welcome in. When you say hunting, you get a pretty clear vision. I think most people get a pretty clear vision, right? Hunting, bird watching, camping, you know what I mean? These kind of things. Hiking, right? When I say fishing, what took... This took me a really long time to figure out. That's why I want

[00:03:10] to open the show with it. When I say fishing in the microphone, I had no idea and I should have known, but I had no idea sort of the array of things that pop into people's mind. In other words, you're sitting on the bank in a chair with a cooler. Fishing, right? Garden girl, how's it going?

[00:03:34] Sitting on the bank in a folding chair with a cooler. Fishing. That's fishing, right? You're on a boat in the middle of the ocean, deep sea fishing. You're on a sheet of ice that you used an auger to drill into and drop a little, you know, you got your little mini ice fishing rod. I'd never gone ice fishing. I really would like to do that. But anyway, you're fishing, right? You're in a bass

[00:03:59] boat cruising around a lake or a river, you know, fishing. You're on a dock fishing. When you say, when you say fishing, there are just all kinds of things that conjure up in the mind. You could be in the highest peaks, maybe not the highest peaks, but you could be in the Appalachian mountains in

[00:04:20] water up to your big toe and waders fishing. It's one of those weird things that when you say the word, it conjures up a thing. It's always a beautiful thing, hopefully. You know, nine times out of 10, it's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful memory, right? Fishing out, fishing with dad, fishing with the family, fishing with the kids, whatever it is. I think for the times,

[00:04:50] uh, we really cracked the code on fishing. And when I say we, I mean, my father and I, we cracked the code on it because we took fishing and turned it into, uh, just, just a thing that it just checked all the boxes of the stresses of life for us. You know, I've done nearly every

[00:05:17] kind of fishing. I've never really done deep sea. Oh no, that's not true. Yeah. Well, not like deep sea fish. I've never really done like deep sea fishing, but I've fished in boats in the saltwater and, you know, trolled in the saltwater and, you know, all kinds of stuff, pure fishing or whatever. When I say fishing, what is fishing to me? What is fishing to me? Like when I want to go fishing, what do I want to do? One of the most important things to me when

[00:05:45] fishing is movement. I want to be moving. You know what I mean? Stationary fishing to me is, it's rough. How I learned to fish was with a pocketbook on, it's like a, a bag with a flap that goes over your, they call them messenger bags now or whatever. But back in the day, my dad didn't even know where he used to get these things. I actually got one of them from a store

[00:06:12] chain called fashion bug, right? And we remember the old fashion bug stores, but there was a certain kind of canvas bag with compartments and a flap and a buckle. Right. And, and that was the fishing bag. This bag is essential to go fishing. There is no substitute the way that I go fishing. There is no substitute to the bag. You can do a sling bag on the back. It's not really as good as the little mini

[00:06:40] messenger bag though, because of the access. You know what I mean? It's here. It's, it's in there. Uh, shelter nine world war three prep FM. What is up man? Yeah. Green canvas bag. Did you use one too? That's very surprising. I actually had one just like it, but, uh, I think it was made by the mud brand.

[00:07:02] You know what I mean? But anyway, um, thanks for joining us. It starts with that. And the reason it starts with that is because we would spend the day in water. You know what I mean? We would spend the day in the water. It wasn't on the banks. It wasn't on a boat. Uh, oh, very cool. Very cool. Grew up fishing under river bridges and pooling cod. That's some good eating. You must've been in a

[00:07:32] cold place. Where were you? Where were you? What bridges were you under? Cause that sounds, uh, sounds like it could be chilly. Cod are only in the cold water, right? I don't, I don't know everything there is to know about a lot of saltwater species and their behavior. Um, but anyway, for us fishing started with that bag. It started with wading in water. You know what I mean? And,

[00:07:58] and the wading aspect of fishing allowed us to, uh, well, it allowed us to stay mobile and it allowed us also to, well, there you go. Nova Scotia. Very cool. It allowed us to, um, get into the wild places. You know, it allowed, what it really allowed us to do is to drive 10, 15 minutes from my home in,

[00:08:26] uh, Marcus Oak, Pennsylvania, which was, you know, people everywhere, people on top of people right outside of Philadelphia and disappear off into little creeks like the Brandywine river, like the Chester Creek, like Ridley Creek, allow us to disappear into these waters because you couldn't go down them in a boat. You really couldn't even go down them in a, in a kayak really. Um, but we could

[00:08:51] walk them and we could disappear into these stretches of woods and have an adventure that didn't, it almost doesn't make sense even to this day. And just off the road, just off the beaten path of civilization, man is so there's so much wildlife. You'll see so many things. My dad saw the first, he saw like the return of the bald Eagles. Like I see bald Eagles way more now at the

[00:09:17] James river, but he saw the first of the bald Eagles returning. And it was, we were all looking at him like he was crazy, you know, but it was about waiting. It was about stalking fish, almost like hunting. Um, it is, this is still what fishing is about for me. Uh, it's about ultra light tackle. And one of the things that dad always said, I asked him about hunting. I wasn't necessarily

[00:09:43] interested in hunting, but the two worlds always overlap. And I would ask dad like, why don't we hunt too? And he always told me it's too expensive. And you know, we were, we weren't poor or anything, but we were tight, you know, it was tight. Um, we didn't really want for much as kids. We, you know what I'm saying? But we, it was tight. So he always would say it's too expensive. And, uh,

[00:10:12] what I found over the years is that you can fish for nothing. I never stopped fishing for pennies. You know, I have all of my years. It's one of the things like in a lot of aspects of my life, I have upgraded things. You know what I mean? I am pretty, maybe not, maybe not actually.

[00:10:38] I am pretty, uh, I am pretty cheap in terms of most things, but in fishing, it's a dirt cheap. It's a dirt cheap exercise still to this day, the most expensive thing I probably ever bought outside of a fly fishing rod, because you have to spend money on a fly fishing rod was the pole, the bait casting pole. I bought my son, um, when he wanted to get into bait casting and all that kind

[00:11:05] of stuff last year. And we tried it out and I mean, it may happen. I don't know. We use open face reels. We always have, they're much easier to deal with. They're much easier to deal with tangles in my opinion, you know, um, that could be because I used them my whole life, but it just, it was a quick in and out of that world and back to what dad's doing. You know what I mean? Cause I'm catching fish and he's tangle and line up and that whole thing. And I, I mean, I, I didn't,

[00:11:33] I didn't say you should use what I use. I said, figure it out. It's going to take time. You know what I mean? For you to figure this out. This is new. It's going to take some time to figure it out. I don't know what it is. I never really used them. You know, I've never used them. I use something similar when I used to go catfishing with my father-in-law on the James river in a boat, but you know, always open face. Um, and that rod and that reel was expensive. It was

[00:12:00] super expensive. And it's the least amount of fun we've ever had with fishing gear. Now I go to 99% of my fishing rods, uh, maybe 80 now actually, cause I have started buying cast King products. I, I do like some of their fishing reels, right? Reels and rods. Um, but anyhow,

[00:12:24] a dually portion, right? Large portion. Uh, Walmart, Walmart. Matter of fact, one of my favorite rods I ever had was a $20 fishing rod, yellow rod from Bass Pro Shops is one of the best I ever owned. Really one of the best. And my dad, he is a guy who spends a little money on fishing, right? He'll buy the St. Croix rods, fly fishing rods, expensive ultralight, uh, spinning rods. It stuff's nice.

[00:12:53] It's nice. I never spend money on fishing. I never spent when I say that I spend money on fishing every year, but I never spend big money on fishing. Never. I mean, it's, if I had to put a dollar figure, you know, I buy a certain kind of outdoor license every year. That's the biggest investment I make every year because here in Virginia, you can wrap up your hunting tags, your, uh,

[00:13:19] your hunting license, your fishing license, sort of all in one. So I do that every year, but outside of the licensing, it depends on who needs a rod and reel. I know I spend less than 200, $250 a year to fish all year baits, you know, all of it. Maybe you might be able to say when I go to

[00:13:41] the outer banks that I spend, uh, well, yeah, when I go to the outer banks, I spend maybe more because that's a different adventure and sometimes they got to refill things, right? Shelter nine world war three prep FM says, LOL, $8 wrap of polarized glasses. My dad was always on the polar. I don't even use

[00:14:03] sunglasses when I go fish. I'm telling you it's, it's just stuff to, to mess, mess it up. You know, for me, what fishing is, is pull up to the river anytime, by the way, another thing that we created in our fishing escapades. I don't know that we created it, but we, we perfected it to some degree

[00:14:26] was it was the waiting fishing loadout. You know what I mean? It was the loadout of things to wait and fish with ultra light tackle and catch fish in next to no water. Very small creeks, very shallow creeks, very spooky fish. And, uh, we'll talk about the tackle a little bit too, but to me, if there are things

[00:14:52] that get in the way of me parking the car and being in the water, see that's, this is the worst part of fishing for me, this stretch of park the car, get into the water, get into fishing, right? This is why I don't boat. This is why I don't own a boat because when you have a boat, you take that stretch and you turn it into a nightmare. Do we got to get gas? We got to back it in. We got to go park. We got to, and now we got to drive too much time out of fishing for me, just too much time.

[00:15:20] So what I found always found is the quickest way to get into the water from the vehicle. You know what I mean? Grab the bag. I always keep the, uh, the poles in the car. Now that I drive a truck, I keep them in the, in a PVC pipe, actually sort of like a survival cache. It's like a big survival cache for rods that break into another thing. That's essential, right? You want to, a rod that, that breaks into two parts. That way, if you are driving a sedan,

[00:15:50] it can go in the trunk and you're always ready. You're perpetually prepared to fish at a moment's notice. Now that's not as essential as it is, as it once was for me when I was in high school. Um, and just out of high school, it was a much bigger deal, you know, because weird things would happen. You know, I would get out of school early, or maybe I didn't have work on a day.

[00:16:17] I thought I had work or maybe I had extra time. Maybe I had like two hours between school and work and it was off to the Creek. You know, it was, it was off to the Creek. I used to have a job that started at noon. And for me, that's like, I'm up, you know, at five o'clock in the morning, I'd take the dog out to the Brandywine river, fish in the morning, come home, drop him off. He's dead

[00:16:43] tired now and head off to work. And, uh, you know, all that, that sort of go bag for fishing, that whole setup, all that, all that stuff was essential. When I start adding special hats and sunglasses and nets, never carried in that nets, all that kind of stuff. Like it's just slowing me down. It's too many things, you know, it's about efficiency into the game. Garden girl says,

[00:17:12] I think sometimes my dad would take me places and didn't even have fish just so we could hang out and talk. Yeah. Well, you know, I didn't know it at the time, but this was, this was my dad and I's relationship for sure. And what fishing with dad made me realize was there's a lot of fun.

[00:17:41] There's a lot of fun in, you know, fighting against that weakness in the morning to wake up. And it's not necessarily a bad thing for your kids to, uh, what is it? What did I feel? There were days I was very excited to go fishing with dad and there were days that I just wanted to sleep in,

[00:18:07] but I didn't want to let him down. And, um, so I just got up and went anyway, and we had a good time always, but I always felt through much of my life. I always felt like I suffered from, uh, nice guy syndrome. You know what I mean? And I used to, I used to look back on that and say, that's what I was doing with dad too. You know, like I did it with so many people. That's what I

[00:18:33] was doing with dad. Dad wanted to go fishing. He wanted me to come in. That's what this man wanted. What I wanted was maybe to sleep in and hang out with somebody, do something different. Um, but that sort of syndrome in my head was like, let's not disappoint him. But you know, and, and he was never, it was never a problem. He would come into my room, be dark. He'd wake me up. You

[00:18:58] coming? Yes or no. And he'd leave either way. If I said, yes, I'm coming, then he'd leave. I'd get up and we, you know, go downstairs and eat sometimes not eat. We'd eat on the way there and then talk and roll out. You know what I mean? And even when I said, no, I'm not coming, which was pretty rare. Um, he would leave. It wasn't a big deal. He'd never bring it up. You know, he'd come home and he'd tell me about what happened. He'd go, Oh, I caught the, did this, did that. But he never, it was never

[00:19:28] like, I don't think he ever once said you should have came. You know what I mean? It was never like that. It was really weird. Um, because it's like non-characteristic of how people work. You know what I mean? It's so, that was such a weird thing, but yeah, the, the hours spent driving

[00:19:51] with dad and the hours spent fishing with dad, we would not have the relationship that we have if we didn't do that. It'd be totally different, totally different relationship because we invested hours into hanging out every weekend. And the same thing happens when you take your kid. You know what I mean? The same thing happens when you're out fishing nowadays. It's,

[00:20:21] it's even more than it was back then, you know, as valuable as it is, or as it was to me, because it kept me out of trouble. You know, it taught me waking up early and the value of that. It taught me all kinds of stuff, the value of patience and, you know, what, what, what a difference a skillset can make when you really hone it. You know, fishing is probably one of the things I'm best at, like out of everything. And I'm good at a lot of stuff, but it's probably the thing I'm best

[00:20:50] at. Um, and just the value of, of it, it, it taught me the nuance of what being really good at something is, you know what I mean? Like the nuance of it, like how you see things other people don't, when you're good at something exceptional, right? When you're good at something like that, you see things, people don't see, you feel things, people don't feel you hear things,

[00:21:15] people don't hear because you've been just honing that skill for ever, you know, six, probably about six, between six and eight years old is when I started consistently going fishing at almost every weekend with that, when it was nice out, which, you know, was basically March to November, March to you know, by the time I think I was 11, 12, I was fly fishing with dad and that was a whole

[00:21:42] another can of worms, but it was the same mentality though. Understand that like the wade fishing, the fly fishing vest that kept us mobile and gave us the ability to, you know, walk the creek, stalk the trout, catch the trout. It was, we were lucky because we had stocked trout streams that also held smallmouth bass. So we, we always had, we always had a quarry, you know what I mean?

[00:22:08] We always had a prey that we were after and it allowed us to tweak things and play with things in different baits. And, you know, what it presents to people now is the antithesis of this, the antithesis, my phone's not around me, but the antithesis of the phone in the digital world, it really is. It's the complete opposite and you feel it. You can feel it. You can feel that the

[00:22:38] world out there is a very different one compared to the world in the screens. After a day, a half day, whatever it is out there, it's just, you're, you're just firing off different parts of you and it's invaluable. It's like a reset button. Uh, you know what I mean? It's like a reboot.

[00:23:00] What's hard is what's hard is getting people into fishing when you're sitting still in fishing because there's nothing more boring. See what my dad did in getting us into this wading fishing thing where we were walking all the way down a Creek and all the way back up to the car, right in the water.

[00:23:24] Is he, he sunk me into a world where there was just a lot to see and a lot to do, even when the fish weren't biting. Do you know what I mean? Like some days we would, and you can do this anytime. I've done this with my own kids. It's fun to do. You'll get into a shallow, fast running water type of area and you can reach down and grab rocks and look under the rocks and you'll see everything that

[00:23:54] the fish are eating. You know, you'll see things like mayflies and caddisfly larva, stonefly larva, those kinds of things, right? Emerging, uh, or, or what are they called? The various stages of these bugs that are, that trout eat and small mouth eat, you might get lucky and see a, a crazy little

[00:24:16] segmented wormy creature with these pinchers on its mouth called the hellgrammite. And the hellgrammite is, uh, it will bite you, but the hellgrammite is devastating on small mouth. Absolutely devastating. Um, but there's a world under there. You know, you might even run into some crayfish if it's, you know, summertime. I've found snakes under rocks, poisonous snakes under rocks in the water.

[00:24:46] Scared the hell out of me actually just this past year. Um, so it's a very different animal what we did. Plus we were always moving. Now the scenery is always changing. Now the quarry is always changing. Now the, the, the, the puzzle that stood before us was always changing. I want to talk to you about the puzzle because it's another one of these unique parts of fishing the way that we fish.

[00:25:13] I'm going to run the, uh, Preppers Medical Handbook ad real quick because I, I owe it. That's why, because I have to, they pay me to do it. It's a really cool ad too, by the way, I don't have anything. I need to put some audio behind it. Um, suffice it to say though, for the podcast audience out there, it's just a few, um, seconds. So just bear with me and, uh, you know, if you need

[00:25:41] something to do while you wait, go to amazon.com and get yourself the Preppers Medical Handbook by

[00:25:46] William Forgey. You know, it's an essential. It really is. But we're talking about essentials.

[00:26:13] This baby right here, man. Good luck finding this thing. You sign up for our newsletter and I do have a link to it. Okay. Um, you'll get a, if you sign up for the newsletter, you're going to get a book, an ebook emailed to you immediately amongst other things, right? Amongst getting our great newsletter. We're focusing on preparing the homeland this year, all year, 2025, right? The terrorist attack,

[00:26:38] all these, all the information we've learned about terrorists in that have made it across the border that has set up, that have been stationed in the country that have been trained, that are training. The other thing that we haven't talked about yet, that one of the, it was one of the things I was going to talk about today is cartel retaliation. You know, if you think that we're going to start

[00:27:02] taking out mountains of cartel members in the United States, using the U S military and border patrol, and there's not going to be retaliation in this country, you're crazy, right? That's what our newsletter is about. You go to PBN family.com sign up for the newsletter. You'll also get a free ebook that's called, uh, the 50 must read books to survive doomsday. And it is really an amazing library of books, an amazing collection of books. Uh, everyone has a link and a sort of a description

[00:27:32] to what the book is and why it's important. It's broken. The ebook itself is broken up into sections. It's an awesome resource, you know, and you can build little by little, an incredible library of books on self-reliance and independence, homesteading, prepping resistance forces. You know what I mean? Responding to maybe a cartel group taking over a part of your city. I don't know

[00:27:57] if that's something that could happen in the United States, but you know, anything's possible. Uh, but there's a variety of things, amazing books, some books written by myself and the hosts here at PBN, you know, it's, it's just a great one of the books though. And this is essential reading for any fishermen, essential reading. And as you can see, this book is old. This book has been read. This book is, uh, there's a lot going on, man. The inside covers falling off when it came out,

[00:28:25] it was eight bucks, $8.95. Um, but this book, how to find fish and make them strike by Joseph D. Bates Jr. Yes. His name is D. Bates. That's pretty funny. Um, I should get some more of his books, man. I bet he's got great books. I don't never, never have seen it. Elementary fishing, reading the water. That's the one you want. Reading the water is the one you want. That's what this book

[00:28:50] is. This book is about reading water. This is, this, this is what sets, um, I'm trying to see if I could show you this. I don't want the camera to search for my head. This is what this book has. What I'm showing for the podcast audience is the various graphics in the book that show you where the fish are. You know what I mean? Here's the other value. This is, this was my life growing up right

[00:29:18] here. This top image. Oh, I lost it. This top image right here. All right, let's just take this ratty cover off. You see what I mean? This thing's ancient. This thing is guided. There's all kinds of covers falling apart. Is that the one? Yeah, that's the one. This thing right here, this image has, uh,

[00:29:41] this was my life growing up, man. Like literally this is my life. I go to a body of water. And like I said, I look at it probably very differently than you, unless you've been fishing like I fish your whole life. That book will show you how to read a body of water. It'll tell you where the fish are at. Oh, I could send it to you, Jay Ferg, if you need it. I didn't know you needed a copy. Yeah,

[00:30:04] I'll send it to you. Um, but it's, it's one of those things, man. You know, it's one of those things that like a book like that will make you look at a body of water differently and will instantly improve how you fish, how you, how often you catch. Right. What that did for me because of the type of fishing that we did and because of the things that I learned is it turned every fishing hole

[00:30:33] into a puzzle. And this, this made fishing incredible. You know, it really did. It made fishing incredible because you would look at an eddy in an eddy pool in the back of a running stream. And you would say to yourself, how do I approach this? How do I approach these fish? How do I, how do I cast, right? How do I present my lure so that it looks normal? Because again,

[00:31:01] we're fishing in these small creeks and other people fish them. And what that means is now you're in a position where, uh, now you're in a position. I'm trying to find an example for you while talking. Now you're in a position where you're, you're fishing for fish that know when people are around, they've seen baits, they know what the deal is. And, uh, this is pretty good. And if you do things that are too unnatural, they're not going to bite. It's that simple,

[00:31:31] man, this is a good book. I'm trying to, trying to find a picture of one that looks something like this is pretty good, but it's got the bank. This was the one that we would face pretty often. This is a, this is a pretty regular one that we would face if you could see. So the fish are lined up on the bank, this fast moving water we're approaching for when you're approaching the fish

[00:32:01] from downstream, uh, or rather up downstream, um, which means the water is flowing, you know, and you're walking downstream, the direction that the water is flowing, the fish are looking up at you. Fish are always looking upstream because the food's coming down. You know what I mean? So they see you. The other thing about fishing, the way that we fish, right? The wade fishing in

[00:32:26] the water is I didn't realize the level of respect that I gained for fish. And I would talk to people about it and they would look at me like I'm crazy. Like some of you who are listening and watching probably are looking at me right now. You're probably saying the fish are too stupid. They don't know you're there. You know what I mean? I've seen it with my own eyes. I mean, it's,

[00:32:50] it's an irrefutable fact. It's irrefutable. You watch fish behave the way that we watch fish behave growing up. You, you understand that camouflage works fishing in fishing the same way that camouflage works in hunting. I've seen my father in bushes. We always dressed in green. Now we did go out on Sunday. So we often had Eagles clothes on and we were just lucky that in that

[00:33:17] generation, it was a midnight green. You could throw on an Eagles hoodie and you'd blend in pretty well. But we always wore green. We always, we treated fishing like hunting. And it was because we had to, to have success, I think, you know, because like I said, these fish were finicky. They were in small streams. They were easy to scare. And once they got scared, they weren't going to bite. Right. So we learned how to approach a hole, right? How to approach it in a way that you're not

[00:33:47] immediately scaring the fish and then how to present the bait that way. And when you get into fly fishing in waters like that, it's 10 times harder because now you're flopping a big giant line on the water. Right. And that's going to make waves and do all that kind of stuff. It might land on top of the fish because your, your bait's over to the right and you want to swing that bait in front of the fish. You got to be careful where the line lands. Right. I scare the hell out of anything.

[00:34:16] If it weren't as hard, I don't know that I would have been as into it, but we did always have success too. That, that was the difference. So there was that element of difficulty. And then there was that element of like success under pressure and difficulty. difficulty. And I don't know, man, that just, it was the recipe. It was the recipe.

[00:34:41] Physically demanding. Right. So now it, it, it's not just fishing, but it's also this physically demanding thing that, that strengthened me as a young man and kept my father young as a guy who had kids late. You know, when I'm, when I'm 10 years old with him, he's 46. You know what I mean? He's, he's approaching 50. Of course he was in phenomenal shape, right? Hey, what's up born to

[00:35:08] brat? We, uh, except for like one day a year, fundamentally, except for about one day a year, we caught in release unless we caught something that was monumental. You know, there was some times we brought some fish home because they were just enormous. And I don't know. It was, it was one of those things, you know, but yeah, 90, 99% of the time we were catching and releasing fish all day.

[00:35:36] You know, we lived, we lived by the adage that, you know, you catch a big fish or you catch, catch a fish in general, you put them back because, um, they're going to make more fish. You know what I mean? You pull all the fish out. There's no more fun. And like I said, why this was such a big deal to dad was because it was free. It was gas, it was gas money. It was, it was scrapple and egg sandwich

[00:36:02] money and maybe lunch money. So we could have these great adventures together and it was for nothing. It was for very little. And that's what he had. You know what I mean? To, to give, it wasn't like he could go out on the weekends with me and spend 200 bucks on something. You know what I mean? And it's the same for you, right? It's the same for you. It's it, you have to understand the value of

[00:36:27] that. Once you, and I can, we can talk about this, but I think it would be better to get you a list. Um, once you establish that fishing tackle, and like I said, you can get fishing tackle for dirt cheap, you know, and I'm not talking about like go thrift shopping and go finding it. No, I'm just talking about going to Walmart and knowing what to buy. You know, one of the most important things that you can have, and most people don't use it. Most people don't have it because they think

[00:36:56] they're going to catch the biggest fish of their lifetime, which is part of fishing. I mean, I've been driven to the waters for years and years and years on the hopes of catching the biggest fish I've ever caught. But people assume that you need 20 pound test fishing line to go large mouth bass fishing. And I've gone fishing now in my latter years, take a lot of people fishing when I was

[00:37:22] working. When I was working, I did, did it a lot more, um, than now because I don't run into as many people, you know what I mean? Who want to go fishing, but almost everybody who finds out I'm fishing wants to go fishing, but I'm also taking my kids more now back in those days I had babies, you know what I mean? And they weren't quite, they were good for a few trips a year, particularly in the spring when the, when the bluegills were really biting and spawning. So now it's more time with them. Um,

[00:37:50] but when I take guys fishing adults, uh, they would bring their fishing tackle. They'd always have at least 10 pound test on 10, 12, 20, 18, whatever, like unbelievable line, like fishing line that look, look, look like, I don't even have pools on these, you know, something like this hanging off the rod. That was an HDMI cable for the podcast audience. No, but really just line. That's just

[00:38:16] tremendous. You can't even believe it. And again, it goes back to that respect for the fish. Fish have eyes. They, they get eaten by each other. Like it's brutal to be a fish. They see your big ass line. They see your weird bait come by and it doesn't look exactly right. And then they see your big line and they go, okay, especially if it's a big fish who's been around a long time. He's seen it. He's seen it all. He's like, I know what that is. It's not food.

[00:38:45] Right? Low vis green, four pound test line, and you'll catch more fish than you've ever caught in your life. It's really that simple. You make the switch from your 20 pound test line to a four pound test. Try lean, low vis green, green colored line. What color is the water you fish in? It's green, right? Low vis green, four pound test line. I guarantee you, you're going to get hung up on the

[00:39:14] bottom and, and you're going to struggle to break four pound test. If you get hung up on like a tree or something, you're going to struggle to break that line. I've caught all kinds of fish larger than four pounds on four pound test line. It just works and you'll catch more fish. You know what I mean? You'll catch more fish. I don't know that you'll catch the biggest fish. I mean, I've caught six

[00:39:41] pound bass on four pound test line. It works. I've caught 15 pound catfish on four pound test line. You know what I mean? It'll work. Particularly if you know how to fight a fish, you know, if, if you, if you hook a fish, if you set the hook on a big fish and just drag it in with all your might, then yeah, your four pound test line will break. When you fish with lightweight tackle, you learn

[00:40:07] all kinds of things. You know what I mean? One of the things that, that you learn is you've got to give line to these fish. You've got to tire a big fish out. It's the same. And you also learn that from fly fishing because fly fishing is it's always a lightweight tippet. But in the tippet is like the last part of your fishing line that you tie your fly to. So you, you, it's always, sorry, the camera

[00:40:32] thinks I'm want to close up. It always, it always thinks that, you know, you're always thinking rather my tippet's going to break. I need to play this fish. I need to wear this fish out. And that's what it takes. It takes giving a little and taking and giving and taking and you get to the point where the fish is tired and then you reel it in. But I tell you, you will have weight. If you change just one thing, go to the four pound test, low vis green line. This is for freshwater fishing. If you're out

[00:41:01] there catching tuna, I don't know what the hell you need. You know what I mean? But if you're catching crappy and bass and sunfish and doing all that kind of stuff, um, use smaller line and make it green, make it a green colored line because it disappears in the water and it just, it's better. I've fished side by side with people who could fish, couldn't fish and so on. And just, they look at me and they get frustrated because I'm catching fish all the time. You know what I mean? We use the same bait,

[00:41:29] all that kind of stuff. I've tested it all together with other people. Um, yeah, it's, it's just one of those things, man. It's, it's one of those things that little tweaks like that make a world of difference. And we learn these things. We, we learn these things from great fishing writers. My father would pour over fishing books constantly. You pass these things on, you know what I mean?

[00:41:55] These things are generational because they're cheap, because they work, because it's fun, because it's fishing is timeless. Fishing is timeless and it works for everybody. That's the crazy thing about it. You know, you tell certain people you're a hunter and you know what I mean? I couldn't do it. I couldn't, anybody can hook a fish and take it off the hook and let it go. You know what I mean? It's, it's not, there's no moral quandary there. If there is,

[00:42:22] you know, calm down, but there's not a lot of moral quandary there, right? It's sort of like, it's just one of these pastimes. It's one of these pastimes that we're forgetting, you know, just like hunting. There's less people buying fishing and hunting licenses and fishing and hunting than ever before. Um, because you can do it on your iPhone because you can do it in VR. What I'm telling you, it is the antithesis of that. It really is. So it's a very different thing,

[00:42:49] man. It's a very different thing. Um, where do we want to go? Where do we want to go? Do we want to do a little, do we want to do a little dog ears? I got on this topic because we were doing the Henry David Thoreau last week. We talked Thoreau all week and, uh, and it pulled this, I was talking to my father about, uh, I was talking to my father about it in general,

[00:43:19] you know, like fishing in general. All you need to be a fisherman is patience in a worm. Um, Herbert Shriver. I'm telling you that this book, I showed you guys this book. Um, if you are a fisherman, you should own it. If you, if you fish consistently, it's a book you should have the Fisherman's guide to life because it's one of these things you eat. My dad gave it to me

[00:43:49] because it was so good, right? Here's sparse gray hackle. Again, I opened the show with sparse gray hackle. This is, this one's one of my favorites. If fishing interferes with your business, give up your business. Here's an old fisherman saying, which is, this is, was me and my dad for, for sure. The two best times to go fishing are when it's raining and when it's not. Yeah.

[00:44:15] Dad always used to say this to, you know, he's still here. I talk about him on these shows, like he's gone, but he's still here. A bad day fishing still beats a good day working. That was almost at the end of every one, right? At the end of every trip of something like that, if we didn't catch well. Angling is somewhat like poetry. Fish come and go, but it is the memory

[00:44:43] of afternoons on the stream that endure. E. Donald Thomas. Yeah, it's, it, like I said, it's just one of those things, you know, you'll remember it forever. Your kids will remember it forever. It's just, it's what it is. No fish. This is a good one. Jeffrey Norman. Jeffrey Norman

[00:45:04] says, no fisherman ever fishes as much as he wants to. The ancient proverb, a good fisherman can secure many regenerative hours in winter, polishing up the rods and reels. See, we tie flies this time of year as, as fly fishermen. Not too much for me. Now this is from Jimmy Carter. No matter how you

[00:45:33] feel about him, the quote, the quote lines up. One of the turning points of my life was when I got my first bait casting outfit. It's the truth, man. Let's see. Oliver Wendell Holmes. You can catch your next fish with a piece of your last. That's interesting. That, that can apply to multitudes

[00:45:56] of things. So folks, uh, it's February almost. We're days away from February, you know, springtime will be here. Crappy fishing will be here. Maybe trout fishing in your area will be here. Maybe all of that sounds foreign to you. You know what I mean? Maybe it does. Maybe all that sounds foreign to you. I'm telling you right now, no matter what financial bracket you're in, you know, if,

[00:46:21] if you're looking for that thing, that thing to get your family together to do that thing, to get your teenager out of the house to do, you know, all that kind of stuff, um, take up your old fishing rod or take up the fishing rod and build the importance of it into your life and into your family's life by putting the stuff around, have the things around, watch videos.

[00:46:50] Your kids wake up. They come down in the morning on the weekend. They see what you're watching every weekend. My dad had fishing shows on every weekend, every Saturday morning, fishing shows, bill dance, falling off the dock, being him, Jimmy Houston, every all every morning we watched in fishermen every, every Saturday we were watching. He would make breakfast. We'd sit there. We'd eat. We'd watch fishing shows. We'd, Ooh, let's try that tomorrow. Cause we, we would,

[00:47:15] we would enjoy Saturday and fish Sunday, come home, watch the Eagles. But it was very clear when you were in our house that dad was a fisherman piled books, piled up fishing books, piled up on the coffee table next to his, you know, seat. It was very clear. Dad was a fisherman fishing hats on, you know, that whole thing. What I think where parents struggle when they,

[00:47:41] when they seek to do new things with their kids is the kids don't understand the value. You know, they look at, they like, why is dad want to do this? Like what's important about, look, you see this table over here? This is what's happening in my life because of Warhammer of all things, right? They, my kids know there's a perceived value in our household. Now,

[00:48:07] they're not at all interested in painting. They're not interested in playing. They're really not interested in it whatsoever, but there's a perceived value in it for dad. There's, it's not like, what are you talking about dad? I didn't even know you liked that. I think a lot of parents get in trouble when they, when they spring this weird stuff on their kids, this new stuff, and the kids are used to their routine. And then all of a sudden they're like, we're going to go hike a mountain

[00:48:32] on Monday. You know what I mean? And they're like, why? For what? You know, we play Yahtzee. What, what are you talking about? So if you're going to get into fishing, get back into fishing, you're going to, and you want to bring the family along for the journey. Like you have got to be the one to show them the passion. You've got to be the one that's in the fishing books and watching the fishing videos and maybe tying flies or painting your own bait. You know, one of the crazy

[00:49:00] things you can do with a little machine like that over there is you can 3d print your own fishing lures. That's fun. You know what I mean? Um, all that stuff is an option and it, it, there has to be perceived value in it. You know, the other thing you've got to catch. So you've got to find the places that where you can catch fish. There's a ton of, there's a ton of apps on phones. Now,

[00:49:27] I don't know because I find fishing holes the old fashioned way. I go look for fish. You know what I mean? I go look for rivers on maps and go look at them. And I look and I stare in the water and I look upstream. I look downstream. I look at the vegetation. I can tell you if there's going to be fish in it or not. One big tell, you can look for the herons. You know what I mean? If you look for the, if you look for what eats fish and they're sitting there eating fish or

[00:49:53] looking for fish and you know, they're here, but, uh, yeah, you have to add that value. You may have to go out for a few times by yourself. Dad's going out for his dad. He's out fishing. Where's dad? He's out fishing. Guys got to come out fishing. Let's go fishing next. You know what I mean? And make it fun. Don't be crazy. Don't, you know, I'll go into parenting if we, if we go down that too far.

[00:50:19] So what is fishing, man? It's different for all kinds of people, but it's one of the craziest outdoor adventures because of that, because it is so different. You know, everybody's fishing memories are very different. What I'm, what I would like you to do is to dig into the sort of fishing that I did growing up, which is a lot of movement, movement into the woods, maybe even wading in the waters, right? And wading in water is tough. You know, it's one of those things you got to have

[00:50:48] balance. You'll fall in and that's okay. And water is dangerous. So you have all that stuff you have to take into account, but you also teach your kids that your kids will learn. Oh, what is dangerous? Oh, if I fall in the water, it sucks. Oh, I've got to have balance. I've got to have steady footing clambering over rocks in rushing water. Right. Is it? I could go on and on, man. Like the, the things that you learn doing that are unfathomable and it's most importantly, it's not taking on a

[00:51:17] hobby that's going to break you, you know? And, and maybe what I'll do in all my spare time, what I, what I need to do is put together a dirt cheap fishing loadout for wade fishing, um, in the spring, because I mean it with all sincerity, it's, it's cheap. It's just, it's one of the few things you can do cheap. You can set it up cheap and you can have a great time for years, decades,

[00:51:47] generations. That's what it is folks. You know, to me, that's what fishing is to me. It's a generational pursuit that my life and who I am would be completely different without it. Completely different. We didn't even get into the stress management. You know what I mean? And, and, and how fishing just gives you that moment of solace and silence to just, Oh, Oh, it's a rough week, but you

[00:52:15] know what? I'm going fishing. I'm going to go get out in the sun. I'm going to get in the water. I'm going to focus on something other than my problems. You know, my father used to say that the, the water, cause we were standing in the water waiting, you know, and he used to say that the water washes your problems downstream. And he was a guy with some problems, you know what I mean? So it was, yeah, it's one of those things. I want to end the show by reading you something. Um, it's from a book

[00:52:45] that I have not yet published. It is exclusively a fishing book. It's called fishing for the answers, the Walton's guide to life. And, uh, the intro to this book I wrote before I knew I was going to write a fishing book. It's a little lengthy, but it's how we're going to end the show. Be sure to go down in the show description below. Okay, please check out our incredible sponsors.

[00:53:13] Definitely, uh, check out Lima Tango tomorrow. We're going to open this box and we are going to, uh, showcase what's inside here. Lima Tango survival, our great new sponsor, man. Pre-made bags, pre-made backpacks, pre-made kits, fire kits, EDC kits. Great stuff. Great stuff from a guy who really cares. In fact, I need to put the word out for bill. If anybody out there in the listening audience,

[00:53:43] lived through Helene, you know, lived through that sort of a situation and, and maybe even some of my hosts, Jay Ferg, you're out there. You experienced it firsthand. He's really interested in putting a kit together to, to deal with something like that. Things that were essential in that. And, uh, if you have information on that, please reach out, go to prepperbroadcasting.com and go fill out the contact form and let me know about your experience and, and what types of

[00:54:11] things you would have liked to had in a kit to deal with that situation. Um, so yeah, Lima Tango survival, check them out, right? Down in the description below, we got a, you know, pack fresh USA. We've got a great giveaway. That's ending soon. Buy anything from pack fresh USA, get entered into the giveaway. I got books. I got, uh, foraging books, medicinal herbs, books, my books, handcrafted

[00:54:39] lizards from Jay Ferg, all kinds of cool stuff. And then you'll get a prize pack from pack fresh USA as well for all your food storage, long-term food storage needs, right? I'm going to kill the camera folks. Um, and read to you on the outro here. Okay. Because since I'm going to spend the rest of my time with my head down. So this is how my fishing book takes off. This is how the whole idea came to

[00:55:07] be. Uh, it's not, it's a story. Okay. It's a little lengthy. It's a story. It is quite personal, but it's, you know, it's important. It's how it all came to be. And it's, well, let's just read it. What is it that makes a boy? Imagine a little boy is only a full round head with thin wire for legs,

[00:55:36] a body and arms. Imagine that round face dotted with freckles, like a band under each eye and over his nose. While little boys are born with certain inclinations, they're much more a collection of experiences that wrap around those spindly appendages. These experiences wrap the boy like thread and

[00:55:59] slowly build the child into what he will someday become. Dark thread around his arms from catching balls, drawing cartoons and wrestling. Turns of thread on each leg from running and climbing, like forming the body of a fly at a vice with thread and dubbing. Each wrap is as important as the previous.

[00:56:23] Sometimes red wraps of thread wind around a young boy's mind from trauma and pain. Imagine a boy with a heart wrapped in olive green, shaped like a bobber, thumping for the tight lines and small mouth bass. This type of boy would enjoy seclusion, introspection, probably more than most. Horror films and midday

[00:56:50] cooking shows would both hold value in the life of a boy like this. He would struggle to understand his position in the world and thus create a whole new set of worlds and rules. A boy like this would have a mother who by all standards would be the pinnacle of what it means to be a mom. She would sit on the cusp of what a mother and a woman once was, what could be and what should be. She was tender when

[00:57:17] it required and tough. Most of all, she would hear him. A mother and a son like this would converse, and not just in order to satisfy and silence the boy, but to know him. She would not send him a cross look like a glowering face while giving her true attention to the cell phone. Most important of all, a boy like this would have a mother who would push him along his own path, allowing him to be

[00:57:44] just what and who he wanted. The rest of the world be damned. A mother like this would not be immune to tragedy, but even though the fires and subsequent dowsings of life, he would still see the framework of the woman that crafted him. The boy with the olive heart would also have a sister. A sister like this would have patience, for a boy like this would be very curious.

[00:58:14] And she would be an older sister, and thus her privacy much more important than he could understand. The small fissures in their relationship would form, as one would expect in teenage years. However, they would share the same yoke, nearly twins born six years apart. Maybe they would share seats at the windows, watching thunderstorms, or nights on the dining room table playing board games. Siblings like these would work for their relationship. They would fill those small

[00:58:42] fissures with great memories and dreams and a growing family, and they would smooth the foundation with new yet rare adventures. Siblings like these would die happy. If for no other reason than the gift of a lifetime together. Of course, a boy like this, an olive hearted boy, would have a father. His father would be a man made up of many red threads. A father like this,

[00:59:09] in fact, would have so many red threads that he would wrap some of his own onto others. Thick thread that takes countless wraps to cover up. A father like this would be born in the 50s, born at a time that seems fictitious to those who live in the 21st century. And his father would have had a father of his own, naturally, who would dive into bottles for

[00:59:35] treasures and become a violent sea monster himself. Spools of red thread. And the boy with the olive heart would wake to the shaking of his shoulder. His eyes would open up, and a father like this would say, you coming? Not in a voice that was demeaning, no pressure. The voice childlike. A best friend who might stir you out of bed early for a day of fun. That would be Sunday morning with

[01:00:04] a father like this. The type of a father and son who would find themselves in a beat-up car with a mouthful of bagel, scrapple, and eggs. They might laugh about sports and the last adventure. They might pull up to a creek that the rest of the world would drive by. The type of creek that would babble behind a hardware store and under a busy road. A creek like this would hold secrets. These secrets

[01:00:30] would be speckled. Some buttery yellow with large dark spots and other silvery with technicolor sheen. Secrets like these might wait. Just downstream for a dry fly to sip. Nose turned up, people wouldn't believe that trout like these would come from small creeks that hide behind hardware stores and under large bridges. A story like this could be about the many details,

[01:00:57] or it could be wound up in one word, adversity. A life like this, like mine and yours, is a lot like fishing. Well, that's a lie. It's exactly like fishing. Fishing in small creeks for trout, with a man trying desperately to wrap over his red thread, and his boy with the olive art.