Days on the Water: 2
Who we fished with: friend/family
Where we fished: Lake Erie
What we caught: Smallmouth bass, walleye, freshwater drum
Tactics: live bait, neds
Buffalo NY Fishing Report for the Week of 08/08/2022 – 08/14/2022
Here is my latest Buffalo NY Fishing Report: To be completely transparent, it feels like I’m not doing my job when I don’t have much to tell my readers about what’s been going on with the fishery. My apologies – but that comes to an end after this writing. I’ll be on the water daily starting tomorrow.
This past week was a period of recovery for me. If you’re wondering what I’m recovering from – check out last week’s report by tapping this link. I spent much of the past seven days eating like crazy, going to the gym, sleeping, and spending time with friends and family members. Energy levels are starting to climb, and weight/muscle is coming back – I lost about 14lbs – and those that know me know I didn’t have 14 to lose. I also had some blood work done a few days ago and all indicators are that my recovery is going well. My biggest challenge is fixing my head.
I fished Lake Erie 2x – once with Janice and Charlotte and another time with Nate, his son Colt, and his nephew Dylan. Fish were caught but it was slowish. I haven’t been connected in awhile so I’m looking forward to getting dialed back in. It felt good to feel the wind and sun and the connection to the Warrior as we ran from location to location. Yeah, it might sound kinda cheese, but if you’re a captain, you know what I’m talking about. When you fish from a boat all the time, the boat and the gear you have deployed all become extensions of you – you can feel it all. That’s part of the magic of what we do.
Episode 21 is live. For the first time, Jordan fished more than me, so he discussed his travels over the past couple of weeks. I tell my story of how I ended up going to a couple ERs over four days before finally getting admitted to the VA. Crazy sickness – weird story. Figuring out ways to maintain a positive mindset and keeping things simple weave there way though the conversation as well.
Tap the link below to listen.
The Mind is a Complicated Place
I don’t know if the 105degree fevers cooked my brain, if all the toxic soup created by rigor disrupted certain hormones, if not sleeping for 6-7 days did some damage, if all the antibiotics killed a little too much, or just being that vulnerable crushed my confidence. It’s probably a combination of all these things, but all I know is that I’m still a little foggy. Not in the sense that I lack situational awareness or the ability to be mindful – quite the contrary. I’ll put it like this, if my emotional spectrum is like a sine wave – the wavelengths are VERY LONG right now.
This bit of brain fog must be hormonal and there’s only one way to fix it that’ll be long lasting/permanent – getting after it. Going to the gym, taxing the mind and body, spending a lot of time outside/in the sun, putting people on fish and seeing their elation from making it happen, reading/listening to positive/motivational content, etc. I’m keeping my schedule packed with all these activities, but I’m also leaving some room for rest/recovery, so I don’t break myself again.
One thing that’s become more apparent to me throughout this ordeal is how fickle the mind can be and how difficult it is to control one’s thoughts. One song can change a mood. A sentence phrased one way vs another can have profound effects on your opinion of the speaker. A meal – good or bad – will alter mood. Sleep, or lack thereof, has another series of effects. I’ll go here too – pornographic imagery will do something to you as well. I mean, it all seems like chaos and these rectangles we spend so much time staring at aren’t helping to simplify things. One thing I know for sure is that keeping the mind and body engaged, challenged, is the only way to maintain some semblance of control and well-being.
Decadence Necessitates Greater Personal Responsibility
This might be controversial, but I think it’s unfortunate that we live in such a period of decadence that one can just fall into a period of depression after trauma and just stay there. If everyone had to leave their dwellings regularly in pursuit of food/sustenance, or to improve their position, or to rear their children, going dark and slipping into depression wouldn’t be a thing – there ain’t no time for that.
I mean, it’s good that we have a healthcare system. Hell, I just benefitted from it (I think). However, it seems ridiculously easy nowadays to get “depressed,” pack on pounds, and just remain in that state indefinitely. In fact, it’s also super easy to get some sort of SSRI or SNRI or antidepressant prescribed to make you comfortably numb to living this way. Is that living or merely operating?
Now, perhaps more than ever, it’s one’s responsibility to recognize this decent into depression and complacency is happening and to fix it. For much of our existence as a species, our environment forced us into action – that’s no longer that case. If you’ve read any of my blogs in the past, you’re aware that mindfulness plays a big role in my life – paying attention to how I’m feeling/thinking and why I’m feeling/thinking that way. I encourage everyone reading this to consider taking stock of your current situation and modifying your behavior as required to improve your mind and body. I, for one, will continue to practice what I preach and am confident I’ll be in a better place in no time.
Looking Forward to the Week of 08/15/2022 – 08/21/2022
Fishing Conditions Looking Forward
This upcoming week is looking good. Mild temperatures through the week then getting hot again over the weekend. For now, there’s little to no precipitation in the forecast other than the occasional sprinkle here and there.
You’ll notice from my color chart that I highlighted problematic winds for much of the week. For most of the week, we’ll be getting north and east winds. That’s not a problem for fishing Lake Erie and huge chunks of the Niagara River. However, Lake Ontario will be a little messy for much of the week. This upcoming week is our annual Kids Fishing Camp, and the boys will definitely want a crack at Ontario, so we’ll likely head over there Thursday or Friday and spend the beginning part of the week on Lake Erie and the Upper Niagara.
I’m super stoked about this upcoming week – I love seeing the kids in action and I’m sure they are going to help enhance my recovery with all their excitement and positivity. Following camp, I’m booked Saturday and Sunday, so it’ll be good to spend the week on the water getting things redialed. Stand by for a big week of pictures and good times.
Stay healthy my friends – mentally and physically,
Ryan
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