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FISH FOR FUN OR FISH FOR MONEY

Fish for fun or fish for money? This is the question that a lot of anglers ask themselves after they become obsessed with fishing. Honestly, I can’t answer that question for you since it’s a personal decision; however, I can provide some personal insight.

I’ve fished for fun for the past several years, and recently decided to jump into the tournament scene (BABY STEPS!). I will say the comradery and the people are amazing! I’ve met some really cool people, and consider a lot of them friends.  That’s the biggest PRO in my opinion! Catching fish during a tournament is exhilarating (PRO), especially if you limit out. Now, most tournaments are chill but extremely competitive when there is money on the line. I personally haven’t placed, and have made my fair share of mistakes that have crippled my chances, but that’s the name of game (FISHING)! Where I call home (Austin Texas) has an abundance of what we call “Sticks”, that can just down right slay fish. Mind you, they put the time in on the water that it takes to be the top competitors on a consistent basis. I commend them for that!

So, I told you what my biggest PROs to the tournament scene were, so here are the CONs; again, my opinion. The biggest is sacrifice! Be ready to sacrifice time with your family (Remember, time on the water = being competitive!), and sacrifice some money. The money sacrifice isn’t so bad if you’re putting in the time, because you will reap the benefits. I would recommend reviewing the tournaments that you would like to potentially fish in and put together a budget, solely for tournaments. Some anglers unfortunately take tournaments way to serious, but I get it (Money Talks). You may run into this, and you may not and that’s ok. Don’t let that detour you from your decision!

In closing, if you decide fishing tournaments is an endeavor you want to pursue, I say go for it! Go into it to have FUN and don’t let all the other BS come into play. Make it just another day on the water!

TIGHT LINES!

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MY ADDICTION STARTED A BUSINESS

If you have read my very first blog topic “WHY I STARTED FISHING”, then you know how my addiction for fishing started. Not the most ideal way to find your passion but hey, it could be worse…

After my coast fishing trip, I had no idea where to start. I started with searching the biggest social media platform in the world! You may or may not have heard of it, but it’s called Facebook or something like that, LOL! I came across “Keep Austin Fishing”, so I decided to request to be a member. If you’re not familiar, I suggest you get on the band wagon! Most of the members were speaking of Kayak fishing (Some Glitter Bug guys AKA BOAT dudes), and I knew my pops had an old Pelican Castaway 120 so I knew I had that part covered.  It was time to get my first setup, so I went to Dick’s sporting goods and grabbed an Abu Garcia 6’6” MH with a Abu Garcia Black Max bait caster (Still have it to this day, and don’t care what anyone says, I LOVE IT), and some tackle.

Town Lake Bound, or Lady Bird Lake for the Austin, TX newbies.

 After a few hours of fishing, I caught my first “TOAD” on a Frog at the mouth of Barton!

The addiction for Bass Fishing was BORN!

I met some dudes on Keep Austin Fishing (Great platform for information, Fishing Talk with other anglers who have the same common interest and tons and tons of information to help the novice or the professional angler) and started fishing with them on a regular basis. This led to massive money spending habits on Rods, Reels, Tackle, Kayak (FeelFree Lure 11.5) and many other fishing accessories. Thankfully my wife was understanding at first, lol! Three years later and I don’t spend as much, but will drop some coin here and there.

I started thinking “how can I be a bigger part of the fishing community?” I guess I realized that there wasn’t any sort of Apparel Company out there that resembled ATX and some of the best Bass Fishing lakes around.

512FISHING was born! Now, the question remained “How do I want my logo to look?” This was one of the hardest aspects, because I wanted something that represented the name I decided upon. Hmmm!!! This was a several month process of doodling and to be honest, everything I drew, I hated! Then it happened! One day I doodled something and I knew that was it, but obviously much work was needed before the final masterpiece was ready for print!

  Here is the lifecycle of the 512FISHING logo:

Pretty crazy if you look at where this doodle started to where it ended up. Not too brag (maybe a little), but I did it all myself; from drawing, to learning a graphic design software and creating it on my own. It makes it that much more precious to me and extremely proud that I created something awesome!

      Now attempting to get a business off the ground and grow is another story! It’s been somewhat of a struggle to say the least, but has picked up some momentum since bringing in my brochaski Mr. Levi Jones!

Thanks to everyone who has supported this venture (you know who you are)! Give us a follow on facebook (512FISHING) & Instagram (@512FISHING)

To my beautiful wife, Thank you for always supporting me and encouraging me down this path!

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WHY I STARTED FISHING

The story begins 3 years ago. Prior to the start of everything, you wouldn’t have been able to get a fishing rod in my hand, let alone have a long drawn out conversation about one of the things I hold close to my heart, FISHING! Let’s just say, fishing changed my life…

Three years ago I noticed something had changed, something was seriously wrong. I knew growing up that I wasn’t like everyone else. I always struggled running, and doing certain things but I was one hell of a baseball player, minus the running aspect of the sport. On the day I really recognized and realized something wasn’t right, I was having one heck of a time trying to button my shirt and tie my shoes. It was almost like I forgot how to do it if that makes any sense, but that wasn’t the case at all. I knew how to do these things, but my hands just didn’t want to cooperate with the task at hand (No Pun Intended). I spoke with my BEAUTIFUL wife and decided to make an appointment with my primary care physician. They poked and probed, made me do simple tasks and ran every blood test known to man. They had obviously, NO CLUE!

Fast forward a month or so, and I was able to get an appointment with a neurological doctor. Based on my symptoms and what he was seeing with nerve reaction (NONE), he essentially knew almost immediately what I had. I came back a few weeks later for an EKG to test my muscle reaction to a needle being stuck in various locations throughout my arms, hands, legs (behind the knee is no joke) and feet. I had zero muscle response in my hands and my lower legs from my knees down.

I was diagnosed with CMT Disease, and no this isn’t Country Music, or something made up. What is CMT Disease you might be thinking, because most have never heard of this? CMT is an inherited peripheral nerve disorder affecting about 1 in 2,500 people. CMT causes damage to the peripheral nerves, which carry signals from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles, and relay sensations, such as pain and touch, to the brain and spinal cord from the rest of the body. This has left my hands almost obsolete when it comes to basic motor functions due to the loss of essentially all the muscle in my hands. No nerves to stimulate muscle life & growth = No Muscle. This too has affected my feet.

Now let’s get to the topic at hand: WHY I STARTED FISHING!

  I was down in the dumps for 6 months or so with the finding of my new diagnosed situation. I was sitting around moping around (Feeling sorry for myself), and got a phone call from my buddy Jose.

                Jose – “Hey, I am going to the coast for a few days to fish, you  wanna come?”

                Me – “Um, I hate fishing dude!”

                Jose – “Come with to get out of the house at least!”

                Me – “Sure!” ß (Jerk Response)

I proceeded to get the dates, etc. and spoke to the wife, and received the thumbs up. Now I was trapped and didn’t have an excuse to back out of the trip; plus I thought it would be fun to hang out with my buddy like we used to before family life came into the picture.

  Now we are headed down to the coast, packed to the brim. Remember, I didn’t like to fish nor had any wants to fish, so NONE of the gear was mine!! We fished for two days, 12 hours each day… Day 1, no fish for me and on day 2 I finally caught the fish (Monster Trout) that changed my life. Ever since, it’s been an ongoing addiction and I wouldn’t want it any different. I found something that I had been searching for my entire life, a passion, a hobby and something that just down right made me smile again. I will never forget the fish that changed my life and pulled me out of my depressed state I had fell into with my diagnosis.

  In closing, life will eventually deal you a bad card. Don’t let that card dictate your life and hold you back from finding something that will bring you back to life. PICK UP A FISHING POLE! It will change your perspective on life, make you a better man all around and ground you with the world’s most precious thing in life, WATER!