Twenty-sixteen is just around the corner and I've decided I'm going to get a fishing license for the new year. Will I make fly fishing a priority? I sure hope I do.
Taking time off from work isn't too much of problem; I'm perpetually behind and no amount of foregoing vacation time has ever been able to change that. I have all the necessary gear and need only spend some time lining my reels and getting everything packed. The nearest trout water - a lake - is about an hour away. The nearest coldwater streams are about 2 or 3 hours.
But getting away to fish is still always so much easier said than done. I'm fortunate in that I have a few different interests, but I almost invariably opt for the one that involves the most instant gratification. I can be on a decent mountain bike trail within 15 minutes, I can walk my dog into the desert right out the front door, and there's a Stratocaster and amp calling to me from the other room. After I've exhausted all of these hobbies (though I'm actually only good at the dog-walking one), there seems like too little time for road tripping. And I'm still inexplicably hung up on the fact that I used to be able to walk to a river full of American shad, Chinook salmon, and steelhead. Have I mentioned I don't really like driving?
Anyway, my perpetual New Year's resolution has long been to put work (the means) into the background of my life and focus more on having fun (the end). Maybe 2016 will be the year in which I actually succeed.
