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About the Author
The current stuff
Well we now have covered the pre-history of my fishing and the reasons I came to love fishing so much.  The next step is to cover the current stuff.  I now reside in Huron, Ohio, with my lovely wife Jill and our two dogs, Sage and Koda.  We love being close to the lake and go to the beach often.  I have my fishing gear in tow every trip!  Most of my fishing takes place either on the lake (Erie) or the tributaries and coastline along the lake.  I don't have a good guess at how many days a year I fish, but we will just call it very many! I'm lucky to have a tolerant wife who also appreciates the outdoors.

When I'm not fishing or working on this site, I enjoy fishing community type sites.  I usually can be found under the name "CoolWater".  The sites I visit most often are; ohiogamefishing (OGF), fishingheadquarters, roughfish, ohfishing... all of which are .com sites.  These and other favorites are on my links page.  I really enjoy seeing other folks pictures and hearing about their on the water experiences.  I also have learned a lot on these sites and hope-fully have also taught a lot.  The information exchange is always nice.
The pre-history of my fishing
I guess I'll do this from a chronological standpoint.  So let me start by saying I've always loved the outdoors as long as I can remember.  Growing up in Tiffin, Ohio, my earliest memories of anything involving the water are at a small body of water, Rock Creek.  My brother and I would spend countless hours walking through the creek exploring and catching creyfish.  It never really occured to me to go fishing, we simply had a blast using our hands to catch creyfish in small sandwich bags.  As I look back at it now, I am amazed at how proficient we were at doing this.  I can hardly speculate as to the number of hours we spent in Rock Creek but I do know we had a lot of fun.

That early appreciation of the outdoors would always be there, however, it would be quite a few years before it got applied to fishing.  It was in high school, that my friend Ryan Brown, really introduced me to fishing. We would grab a couple of poles and walk across a field to a small farm pond that he had permission to fish.  I recall catching some Largemouth Bass and having a great time.  One of my best memories is when Ryan said, "If I had a creyfish, I could catch a catfish".  All we ever caught were bass so this came
as a rather profound declaration.  Needless to say, we got a single creyfish from a nearby creek and within minutes he pulled out a very nice sized catfish.  The summer before I left for college, we did quite a bit of fishing not only at the pond, but also driving up to Sandusky and fishing near the Cedar Point Causeway.  I could write pages about that Sandusky fishing and how much fun we had.

Once at college, different priorities and interests took center stage and fishing just wasn't something I continued to do.  During my junior year, however, it would be another friend that would spark my fishing interest again.  A roomate of mine, Rick Marinelli, was into bass fishing and I noticed a picture he had put on our refridgerator.  It was him holding a massive Largemouth Bass.  When I asked him about it, he told me about this small pond he had been fishing next to some apartments.  Apparently he caught it there along with many Bluegill.  On his next trip I tagged along and was fascinated that such a large fish was taken from such a small body of water.  This time, everything about fishing stuck, I was hooked!  I have fished at varying levels ever since.
My fishing passion
So what is it about fishing that makes me enjoy it so much?  In fact, enjoy it so much that I even have this secondary hobby just maintaining a website about fishing?!  I honestly think it would be impossible to articulate.  The point of this section though, is to attempt to capture this passion in words.  I will try to do my best, however, my best guess is that I will hardly be able to scratch the surface.  The only part of this that is easy, is recognizing that it is not a single reason I love to fish, it is a host of reasons that all play a role.  So here it goes, why I love fishing so much.

I know I've always been a competitive person so there is a good chance the simple challenge of fishing appeals to me.  You will often hear people say "that's why they call it fishing not catching" referring to unsuccessful trips.  I think there is something appealing about taking on an endeavor that you may or may not "win" at.  Obviously, you put more time, effort, and energy into the learning everything you can to "win" more often.  In an odd twist of this competitive nature, I'm not really into tournament fishing.  I guess the challenge I enjoy is me vs. fish, not me vs. other anglers.  I believe some of
my other reasons I love to fish are probably why tournament angling hasn't appealed to me more.  For example, I really appreciate fish diversity.  I fished the PWT twice as a co-angler and on one particular day I caught some nice Northern Pike.  Now I'm an avid catch and release fisherman, but I do like to look at my catch for a second and snap a picture or two.  As you might imagine, when everything is time sensitive and the tournament is for Walleye, that fish needs to get back in the water quick to get back to the targeted species.

Speaking a little more about fish diversity... this really is a key component of why I love fishing.  In particular, multi species fishing.  It doesn't make a difference to me whether a fish is good to eat or considered a popular sportfish.  I feel every unique species has qualities worthy of admiration and consider all fish as sportfish when pursued in their native environment.

Another aspect about fishing is that it often gives me a sense of a connection to the past.  There is something very appealing about the simple primitive concept of fishing and those that have done it before me.  Maybe with the speed of life and fast pace everything seems to have, slowing down and the simple relaxation is especially enjoyable.  The solitude that some bodies of water offer, is reason enough to love fishing.  It goes without saying, scenery is a big factor as well.  God's amazing landscapes are often phenominal.  The picture of me fishing the Vermilion River that is used for this section, is a fine example.  Just looking at the picture takes me to a 'good place'.  One made up of relaxation and happiness without a care in the world.  A big thank you to Andrew Ragas for taking that fine photo.  I also will throw the aspect of seeing nature into this discussion about scenery.  I've watched all kinds of birds and waterfowl, and countless other types of animals while fishing.  While fishing will always be primarily about the fish, many times I've encountered things in nature that were equal to, if not altogether overshadowed the fishing itself.  My stories about these types of things I've seen would be numerous.

It goes without saying that sometimes fishing is awesome just for the simple fact of spending time with family and friends.  While the solitude of fishing solo can have it's own appeal, the fun of fishing with those you love can also be fantastic.  Life long memories are often the result of even the most unsuccessful fishing trips!  I can personally vouch for that!

I guess one of my final thoughts about fishing is the excitement of the unknown.  You look at a body of water and wonder just what it might hold.  Even when you target one specific fish type, the size, the color, the shape, can be very diverse.  It truly is a big question every time you throw you line is as to what you might get.  There are so many great stories about those 'bonus' catches, indicating a catch that wasn't expected or being targeted.  Add to that those amazing photos that surface of anglers with amazing surprise catches, and you have something that thrills me.  It seems about everytime I fish I think about those type things and wonder maybe this time it will be me!  (this next part added 1/11/10)  Read my Pacu story and you will see a perfect example of what I was talking about.  I may never have such a surprise type catch again, but at least I will always have my one epic fishing story.  This catch exemplified exactly what I was talking about with the thrill of the unknown every time you put your line in the water!  Please email me your surprise stories!

So there you have it, my best attempt at explaining why I love to fish so much.  If you read all this, I know you love it too!
Rock Creek at Heidelberg College Track in Tiffin, Oh.
The author fishing the Vermilion River
The author fishing at the new hometown, Huron, Oh.
Since this page is "About the Author" I'm looking to add more random things to this section regarding some of my 'favorites' such as my favorite species, favorite photos, and etc. etc...  I also wan't to add information and photos of family and friends.  Look for that soon!