REM Fish

I had a dream last night that I was standing on the bow of a boat. I was in an overgrown bayou with crystal clear water. The man on the pole said "right there on that point". I was looking at the point which was nothing more than an outcrop of mangrove that signaled the canal to make a hard left and then open into a large back lake with a smooth surface being disturbed by the occasional jumping mullet, v-wake, or dragonfly. I didn't see a fish but I picked up my line. I moved my rod back feeling the flex and release of the tip and released a few feet to it and then pinched to wait for a split second. This moment is more special to me than seeing the line roll out in front of me. this is the moment where you make the cast happen. When you feel the line tighten in your fingers and almost try to keep going back when at the moment of submission you pull the line down firmly and come forward with your rod, watching the tip bend to its extreme and at the moment when you feel the forward momentum you carefully guide the line towards the bottom eyes and release. Watching the pile at your feet disappear onto the rod. After that all you do is watch and see if you made the correct adjustments and if your timing was correct. This being a dream mind you it actually laid out six inches from the roots and I began to strip. Small sharp strips to let the feathers pulse and be "alive". I felt the strike because I was in contact with the line and paying attention. I stripped hard and felt weight and a couple heavy head shakes. After that I couldn't tell you much more than it was a large trout.(speckled trout) And It doesn't really matter to me how big my imagination could have made it. A fishes size isn't as important to me as it used to be. I think its all the pictures of big fish and the commonality that these pictures all have. The same fish, the same faces, the same look. It happens and its not that special to anyone but the person holding the fish and the person who held the camera. I think maybe philosophy might have a part in my change of heart and another might be the fact that I consider myself fully grown up now. No child resides inside. No rebellion. No constant need to prove myself. Although A need to prove is there but its a need to prove things to myself rather than others. I might be going through a phase that will pass but I think the excitement of everything coming together relies on luck more than it does skill. Although skill has to be at a certain level to allow yourself to succeed constantly through changing conditions. You have to be around fish to catch fish. You can throw to nothing and be the greatest angler alive and your catch will be outmatched by low caliber flailers. Being prepared and a little luck will always be welcome on my boat rather than having the title of greatest ever. Because even the greatest fall on their faces sometimes. And even the sun shines on my ass some days.