06-26-2015, 02:40 PM
[#0000FF]Now that this thread has "developed" a bit, I feel inclined to add a little more. I already posted my "Fishing Buddy Application". I did not elaborate on the reasons for my putting it together. But I am attaching below a short writeup I excreted a long time ago about a REAL ex fishing buddy named Bob.
Over my (many) years of fishing I have encountered just about every imaginable fishing buddy situation. Murphy's Law being what it is, there have been more adverse encounters than positive ones. Thankfully, there have been enough good ones...and newly formed long-lasting fishing friendships...that I have maintained an open mind to keep trying out new fishing buddies.
I suppose my worst complaint about fishing "first dates" is blatant disregard for a meetup time schedule. Like many anglers I like to be on the water at first light...not only for the typically better fishing at daybreak but for the esthetics of a new day beginning on a lovely lake...or stream. If I tell a "trip beggar" to be at a certain place at a certain time I expect/demand that they be there waiting when I show up early. I subscribe to the philosophy of "Lombardi Standard Time". If you are on time, you are late. God bless the "late" Vince Lombardi.
In my younger and mellower days I would sometimes wait a long time for a tardy new fishing buddy to show up at the appointed spot. But too many of those situations...sitting there fuming and realizing that I might miss the best fishing of the day...caused me to become more callous and unforgiving. In my older and more crotchety years I give fair warning. I tell first time candidates that they have no more than a five minute tolerance window...before I leave without them. And they never get second chances. As the old saying goes: "You only have one chance to make a good first impression."
Do I practice what I preach? I defy ANY other angler with whom I have gone fishing to state that they have been the first to arrive. And NO...I do not sleep over at the spot just to make sure that happens. But I do believe that it takes just as much planning to be late as early. My planning includes setting my alarm to allow plenty of time to get out the door in time to avoid messing up a fellow angler. Don't know why others can't figure that out for themselves.
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Over my (many) years of fishing I have encountered just about every imaginable fishing buddy situation. Murphy's Law being what it is, there have been more adverse encounters than positive ones. Thankfully, there have been enough good ones...and newly formed long-lasting fishing friendships...that I have maintained an open mind to keep trying out new fishing buddies.
I suppose my worst complaint about fishing "first dates" is blatant disregard for a meetup time schedule. Like many anglers I like to be on the water at first light...not only for the typically better fishing at daybreak but for the esthetics of a new day beginning on a lovely lake...or stream. If I tell a "trip beggar" to be at a certain place at a certain time I expect/demand that they be there waiting when I show up early. I subscribe to the philosophy of "Lombardi Standard Time". If you are on time, you are late. God bless the "late" Vince Lombardi.
In my younger and mellower days I would sometimes wait a long time for a tardy new fishing buddy to show up at the appointed spot. But too many of those situations...sitting there fuming and realizing that I might miss the best fishing of the day...caused me to become more callous and unforgiving. In my older and more crotchety years I give fair warning. I tell first time candidates that they have no more than a five minute tolerance window...before I leave without them. And they never get second chances. As the old saying goes: "You only have one chance to make a good first impression."
Do I practice what I preach? I defy ANY other angler with whom I have gone fishing to state that they have been the first to arrive. And NO...I do not sleep over at the spot just to make sure that happens. But I do believe that it takes just as much planning to be late as early. My planning includes setting my alarm to allow plenty of time to get out the door in time to avoid messing up a fellow angler. Don't know why others can't figure that out for themselves.
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