Spring In Western New York
I would say that spring in the Buffalo Niagara Region is my favorite time of year but I think I said that already…about fall. The reality is, if you haven’t picked up on it yet, every season is fishing season around here. Every one of them has its own nuances, beauty, and metaphor about life – that’s why it’s hard for me to pick a favorite. BUT – spring is easily in my top 4.
People commonly use the word, “reawakening,” to describe what’s taking place during spring. I deliberately chose not to use that word. Mainly because I don’t know what it means. How does something “reawaken?” Aren’t the vast majority of organisms truly just “awakening,” during this period? Either way, much is different between winter and fall. Colors, sounds, temperature, day length, smells, and FISHING to name a few.
Looking forward to the sun, carp, and days on the water with my daughter.
Maybe we’ll be able to get him on the water again. After all – he’s even more sveldt now
Us humans, just like our environment, also change during the transition from winter to spring. We often do some form of, “spring cleaning.” A kind of symbolic cleansing of the shack nasties takes place. You know, where people look at themselves in the mirror on a day where you can leave the windows in your house open and say, “I’m ridiculously pasty.” “I totally blew off that gym membership I purchased over the holidays,” is another gem. My brothers and I didn’t have quite THAT conversation with our reflections but we did have one.
The Convo With Ourselves
This is all symbolic of course – we’re not crazy. We took stock of the previous season and what we’ve accomplished since we started up nearly a year ago and formalized a few goals.
- Increase advocacy of the Western New York fishery. Many would say it doesn’t need any more pressure. If that’s you, please read our last post. If you haven’t noticed, we are proud of our fishery and our region. We did not receive sponsorship for our videos. We funded and produced everything to date out of the desire to show the world what this region has to offer. Unfortunately, because we are new, our reach is small and we had a marginal impact at best. That will change this year.
- If you’ve read any of our stuff or taken a minute to check out our website, you’ve definitely noticed we like to explore. We travel extensively. The desire to see new places, catch new fish, and meet new people fuels this wanderlust. Then the thought occurred to us, “Why not take Re-Discover Your Region on the road? It would be incredible to go back to some of our favorite places and feature some of favorite guides and capture them on film. It would be equally awesome to get some footage of the brewery scene in the area as well…and why not? Brew masters, chefs, and restauranteurs are artists just like fly anglers.” So that’s what we’re doing (self-funded because nobody’s been brave enough to sponsor us). Thankfully the featured guides are friends and respect our work.
- If you actually read the first 2 goals (thanks for making it this far), you’re probably wondering how we can make all this on a budding guide’s income. It’s definitely a gamble but we have a plan. At a minimum, we should see some sort of return on investment while pursuing goals 1 and 2 in the form of clients. TBD.
So why put these goals out there? It’s motivation for us – sort of codifying it to hold ourselves accountable. It’s more than that though – we believe setting goals for the year is important. It keeps you focused, oriented. It gives you something to look forward to. Just trying to pass off some nuggets of attempted wisdom to my fellow new guides. Hell…it’s spring. It’s a new season and we are nearly a year deep into our pursuit. Crossing that year mark and beyond is definitely something to look forward to.
Catching one of our beloved smalljaws again is definitely something to look forward to
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If you made it this far – thanks for reading. We appreciate you taking the time to show some interest. We would also appreciate any comments you may have. Or, better yet, if this article got you thinking about fishing – give us a call!
