#bassfishing #fishing #yearinreview
2023 was the greatest year of fishing I've ever had. I started fishing as a kid before I can remember, thanks to my parents. I remember the first time I did it on my own. I think I was 9. I was at a family reunion at Allen Pond in Bowie, MD. I remember feeding the ducks bread with my cousins. Some of the bread sunk below the surface into the darkness and mysteriously disappeared in a flash. This intrigued me and so I came back with a size 8 hook and a tiny piece of bread. I caught a bluegill and the mystery was solved. I was hooked. I immediately obsessed over fish and fishing, and that obsession never left me.
It's even more intense today. More than 1/3 of my dreams since I was a kid have been about fish, fishing, and the water. I get goosebumps just remembering some of them. My mind is always in the water-the clear shallows and the murky depths. There's just something there that won't leave me alone and I'll spend the rest of my life trying to see and understand. I feel like a kid hiding behind a trashcan, watching mysterious beings moving about, doing mysterious things that I'll never fully comprehend. Stunned and intrigued, not being able to peel my eyes off them.
As a teenager, I fished almost everyday after school and on the weekends. Mostly bass fishing at a private lake my buddy and I would sneak into. I also had a flimsy Jon boat with a 5 hp motor I'd take to the Patuxent River. At one point, my dad got a bass boat, and we fished from that for a couple years until we had to sell it.
I became a dad myself in my early 20's and the fishing slowed down a bit. But I was able to share it with my kids and have very memorable moments. We moved to Baltimore and I was on a very tight budget, so I became the best bank and canoe fisherman I could be. I'd get out maybe once a month most years. Fast forward to 2020. My son and I, in Puerto Rico, went on a guided tarpon trip. Being in this new, beautiful place, gliding across the glassy surface of a mangrove lagoon, shooting smoothly down green flanked canals, I knew I needed a boat again. I could feel my teenage self wincing inside, saying to my present self, "where's our boat? We've been missing a boat for 20 some years..." I bit the bullet and got my current 1994 Lowe 1650 from Facebook marketplace. And since then, we've been inseparable. It took a lot to get her running right, but in the end it worked out great. And I learned a lot about outboard issues!
Fast forward to 2023. My youngest turns 18. The boat finally runs great. My business is going well. My house is in order. I make an agreement with myself that I will prioritize fishing more by going out once a week minimum and film every chance I get. I find new places to fish and new techniques that make me feel like a beginner again. I hear of a good spot and look at it on the map. It intimidates me. I go anyway and familiarize myself. I put in the work of trying to find fish and trying to get them to bite. I do this over and over and over again. I grind harder than I ever have before. And it paid off. I'd say 3/4 of my days fishing never make it to RU-vid. A lot of days just putting in the work to familiarize myself to a body of water, catching nothing or a couple dinks. I still wouldn't trade it for anything else. Then there are the days where everything lines up. All the scouting and grinding come to fruition and I get on a good bite. These are the times where it feels like the clouds part and I am being truly blessed. My heart swells just thinking about it.
These fish I caught this year are truly a miracle to me. It's just unprecedented. I've been so used to grinding for years and years with very little to show for it. I finally feel like I'm "getting it," and it's the best feeling in the world. You can hear it in my voice when I hook a good fish. And that's me holding back so I don't embarrass myself too much. I am the opposite of jaded. These fish make me feel like I could live 300 years and still wish I had more time on the water. I pray that my success this past year is a sign of things to come. Watching this, I can see that I've truly leveled up my game and I'm so glad I pushed myself so hard so often to get here. I've been digging for so long, and I've finally hit a few solid veins of gold, and now I wouldn't be able to stop digging if I tried.
If you've watched any of my videos and you're reading this, thank you. It was my dream as a kid to be like Bill Dance or Jimmy Houston. I used to think they were hamming it up when they'd become excited blithering fools when they hooked a good fish. Now I know that feeling. It's a fine wine that takes decades to experience. I hope that my videos are helpful in some way. I hope that they are entertaining to you. And most of all, I hope that they push you closer to getting out there. Happy New Year and good luck this year! I'll see you out on the water...
Instagram: / gillraker79
4 янв 2024
