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| January 2017- 37" 10 lb Master Angler pike through the ice |
If you have been watching this blog for a while, you will know a couple of things- first, I haven't been posting a lot. Second, you will note that I have been rather obsessed with completing the Vermont Master Angler Program before anyone else. Let me address both of these.
Why haven't I been posting? Well, honestly, I don't have a lot of excuses. I have been lazy about posting, I have had a lot of other things that I have been doing, and honestly, when fishing for myself I have done a bunch of fly fishing, but I have been exploring other avenues of catching fish. More on that in a later post.
What is with my obsession with the Vermont Master Angler Program? There are several parts to this:
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| Master Angler smelt- a massive 9"! |
- I love this program! It was set up to show the amazing diversity of the fisheries available to anglers in Vermont. It does that and it has encouraged me to try new techniques, fish in places I never have before and learn more about fish I knew virtually nothing about. All good things!
- It builds excitement for angling in Vermont and recognizes anglers that have caught impressive specimens. The pins are pretty darn cool and only enough are made to provide one to each angler who earns one plus three to have for display. In other words you really have to earn one to get one.
- The last one is the most personal. I don't plan on having children. I don't have any kind of long term career (yet?). But I would like a legacy. I do hold a state record and have clients with IGFA world records but records can (and will be) broken. To be the first to do something is just that- the first. No one else can do that. I can do this with the Master Angler Program.
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| Master Angler cisco.. a what? A post coming on it soon! My thanks to Captain Thorny and Cowboy! |
I am really close. In the past year I added two species to my total bringing me to 31 out of 33 species. I got an American shad in the Connecticut River in May and then in September, with the help of Captain Thorny, got a cisco (which would have been another state record... story later). I just have two left- the lake whitefish and the pike/pickerel hybrid.
Here is where you can help. I work as a paraeducator at a middle school. This means that while I have great benefits and a lot of time off with school breaks, it also means that I don't get paid particularly well. I am an hourly employee and school breaks I don't get paid for. I love my job- I support some really amazing kids that just need some extra help to move forward. That is where I am right now. I want to move forward with my next steps in life but I need to complete this goal first.
I know that I can get these last two species this winter through the ice. As a matter of fact, I had the whitefish I needed at the hole last weekend and lost it (another post on that soon!). I have a week and a half off at the end of February and beginning of March. That gives me a lot of time to do this. But I need some help financially to help with gas, bait, food, and all the stuff that goes around the end of this quest. With your help (and some luck) I can get this done!
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| Master Angler shad. And, yes, just like Jim Morrison once said "Some of my worst decisions have been haircuts..." |
I started a GoFundMe to help out. So far I have had a great response. I hope you will consider helping me out too. I am very close to my goal. I am going to send a personal letter written on the back of one of my Master Angler Certificates to everyone who donates and if you are planning on booking a trip with me this year I will take your donation off the trip. Please help me get this done!
Thank you for reading this! Thank you to all of my generous contributors! Thank you for your consideration! And thank you for all the support that everyone has given me over the years! It means a great deal to me and had helped get me through a lot of rough patches.
Drew
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