Sometimes I'm a slow learner. In 2015, I was fortunate to be able to fish in Montana on four separate occasions. We have plans to spend nearly 10 days in Montana and Yellowstone in August this year, and I'm starting to get a little giddy about the two-day trip my wife booked for me on the Missouri in April. Fingers crossed that she's coming along. After my day on the Big Horn River last year, I did a little math and realized that I should have just purchased a full-year nonresident angling license for 2015. Turns out it would have been cheaper than the daily licenses that I purchased as needed. With this in mind, Mrs. Fading Angler and I picked up shiny new full-year 2016 fishing licenses when we were in Missoula.
Sure, we could have bought them online, but there's nothing like having that fluorescent yellow piece of waterproof "paper" in your wallet. It's my license to do what I do. Rather than:
Bond. James Bond.You get this:
Angler. Fading Angler.Women may not swoon over me and fish may not fear me, but my drink will always be shaking. Err, shaken.
Nice to see another angler taking life with a grain of salt. Live life while you can for tomorrow may never come. Good luck with the Parkinson's my friend. I look forward to a lot more fishing and writing out of you.
ReplyDeleteFolks dealing with me often need more than a grain of salt. I usually recommend at least a pinch, if not the whole shaker. An antacid never hurts, either.
DeleteI'm looking forward to the fishing and writing, too. Thanks for contributing!
Much prefer to have the hard copy of an angling license. I always run into a conservation officer atleast once during the season and I like having the hard copy.
ReplyDeleteOh, even when I've purchased a 2-day Montana non-resident license online, I've still printed and carried a copy. It just doesn't feel the same, buying it from a web site instead of a shop owner. No opportunity to swap lies, er, stories!
DeleteIn my 43 years, I have not once been asked for my fishing license. My wife has, when I was fishing about 500 yards away, but not me! Instead of checking my license, the Minnesota DNR officer handed Dairy Queen coupons to my kids because they were wearing their PFDs.
BTW, thanks for dropping by!
DeleteThat's so true about licenses. I like something tangible in my wallet that says I'm legal. Makes me feel more official. I visited Missoula once doing a trip from San Diego to Montana when I was 15. I didn't fly fish at the time and was barely a proficient spin fisherman. I fumbled my way around on the Clark Fork but never caught anything. I didn't care because I saw so many awesome natural moments I've been spending my whole adult life figuring out how to do the same trip. Great blog, I look forward to future posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kevin. I hope you get back there sometime soon. I lived just outside Missoula for more than 6 years, but barely fished at all while I was there. Now I'm pretty much obsessed with moving back to Montana as soon as I can make it work financially.
DeleteAnd you can always just make parts of that trip until the opportunity to do the whole thing comes along. Just a little encouragement from a guy who can hear his clock ticking louder every day. :)
Welcome, thanks for leaving some words, and I hope you'll visit occasionally in the future.
Chris
ReplyDeleteYou are doing something a lot of us dream about, fish in Montana and Yellowstone--as for licenses, yes it is cheaper to buy yearly--I know because a fishing license was going to cost me 50 bucks to fish one time in Tennessee, so I bought a yearly licenses for 100 bucks, because I will fly fish there numerous times during this year. Thanks to Howard I found your blog and have added it to my roll. Thanks for sharing
Hi Bill, I appreciate the link! Don't worry, I'm still dreaming, too. I pull that Montana license out of my wallet every couple of days and stare...
DeleteI do realize that I'm doing what lots of people dream about. It's what *I* dream about (my lovely bride might say it's what I obsess about.) And I guess I'm motivated to pursue some of those dreams while I can, before the opportunity fades. It may sound insane, but I'm learning to be grateful for what Parkinson's Disease is teaching me. Ultimately, it looks like I fish for the same reason you do: "When I am on the water I forget about everything else except landing that elusive trout, bream, crappie or bass."
I am VERY grateful for the opportunities I have and the second chances. So, I guess I'm kinda "Livin' La Vida Loca" to ride it for all it's worth. :)