Things I Learned at Fishing Camp

by Gary Gibson
September 2003

• Rain on blue jeans three times in one day may turn your legs blue.
• Early fishermen may get the worm but not the fish.
• White caps in the channels make it difficult to see big stones.
• Either the camp's poker players know more poker games than God or they are playing a devious form of "Calvin Ball".
• Fresh Fish Night at camp dinner is sometimes not a real sure thing.
• The camp's stainless steel charcoal grill weighs more than two Buicks.
• Five brothers at camp are sometimes hard to tell apart.
• Pennsylvania Club Members and guests make good company at camp whether the fish are biting or not. Even Marines and Air Force weenies.
• Software guys will talk about their products, anytime, anywhere.
• If you leave your unfinished beverage can anywhere near one guy, he will inexplicitly pitch it. (Actually you learn this quickly).
• Doc's scotch and milk nightcap recipe is still available for adoption.
• The "white sound" generating device located in the cottage is fairly effective to blank out loud snoring.
• It is possible to get lost out on the water without your charts.
• A prime time to clean out your tackle box is at camp, but we never saw anyone throw out even the meanest "beater lures".
• Some guys will try to salvage even the biggest, nastiest tangle of monofilament, the size of a basketball, just for the principle.
• Camp food is always delicious.
• There are still party lines available for phone service in Canada.
• There are many proud fathers that come to the camp to fish.
• New motors will not start without the emergency kill engine strap.
• Haasman and John may not be real good on Motel chain names but they are great camp hosts.
• Bailing your boat out each morning after the nightly rain should be approached as a solemn ceremony.
• One advantage to fishing in the rain is that escaping minnows can live in the rainwater accumulating in the bottom of your boat, so you in effect have a 14 foot live well.
• No matter how hard you fish, someone else will catch more and bigger fish.
• Cameras are amazingly durable.
• In defense of a certain angler, Big Muskies really do look like big Barracuda and not too many people want to handle Barracuda, either.
• The giant fish blips on everyone's fish finder out in the deep bays are really male humpback whales returning to breed. Under no circumstances should your fishing boat resemble a female humpback.
• The $7.00 lure you fantasized would catch 7 lb plus bass and you bought at your local sporting goods store was lucky to snag weeds.
• Sometimes the big fish that got away turn out to be the best stories.
• Fishing camp with your Dad, Son, Uncle or old friends is simply priceless.