Yearly on January tenth, I get up early within the morning, earlier than my spouse and pets, and get within the automobile to journey to Hunterdon County, New Jersey. I dwell up in Sussex now, so it’s about an hour and alter away. It’s my dad Scott’s birthday, and like yearly since his passing in 2016, I make a pilgrimage again to the waters the place he taught me to fish for trout for a day of fishing in his honor; affectionately deemed the Ship for Scott. Usually, I’ve loads of small rivers and creeks to discover, however with this 12 months’s deep freeze most of them had been inaccessible. There was one place I knew I might discover open water close by, so I headed over to the shores of Spherical Valley Reservoir.
As I approached the shoreline with a bucket of shiners and a few powerbait, I took a minute to understand the water being again at nearly full capability. After years of dam work protecting the degrees down, the Valley is lastly again to its glory. I arrange two bait rods and casted round some lures with a 3rd. Having arrived at 8:30am, I had given myself loads of time to suppose whereas I attempted for that cruising brown trout or misplaced winter lake trout.
My father handed away from suicide in 2016. Usually after I fish, reminiscences we shared collectively flood via my thoughts. He’s the one who confirmed me how one can tie knots, how one can bait a hook, all the things. He would usually name me throughout my highschool and faculty years with that season’s “trout depend”. “Already as much as 28 trout to date this season!” He’d boisterously reply the cellphone with this response earlier than even saying whats up.
Because the day progressed, the motion didn’t, so I made a decision to make a transfer to a different spot in a special cove. There, I used to be sheltered from the wind, and the water appeared promising, however there have been no fish to be discovered. With an empty bait bucket and a willpower to catch one thing, I ended my time on the Valley round 1:30PM and started to execute Plan B.
I ended by my previous hometown to see if the creek I grew up inside strolling distance of was fishable. I walked via the playground, the place my brother and I had performed a whole lot of instances collectively, to examine a deep gap on the opposite aspect of it. After I crested the small hill trying over the outlet, I discovered solely ice; your complete part of the creek had frozen over. “I figured this is likely to be the case,” I believed as I turned again in direction of the playground. Trying on the baseball discipline and the swings introduced again reminiscences of working towards fielding floor balls with my dad whereas my brother, Tyler, swung amongst the bushes simply off the primary final analysis.
In 2024, I additionally misplaced my brother to suicide. He was my finest good friend and though wasn’t a fisherman, he was one in every of my greatest supporters. January 10th simply so occurs to be his half birthday, so I used to be decided greater than ever to catch one thing.
I continued additional into Hunterdon County till I reached the mighty Musconetcong. A tributary of the Delaware river, it’s a nice trout fishery. Fortunately, I used to be capable of finding some quicker shifting water that wasn’t frozen over, so I started mountain climbing the financial institution in quest of trouty-looking spots. I did a bunch of casting, however sadly, had no luck. It was approaching 4PM by this level, and I used to be drained and hungry, however there was one final spot I wished to strive.
On the closing spot, I pulled as much as one in every of my favourite sights: an empty parking zone. Not a variety of anglers had been braving the chilly. I knew of 5 or 6 holes alongside this stretch that held fish prior to now, so I started working my method downstream. The solar was behind the rolling hills now, my time was operating out. After fishing all of the holes I had supposed with no sniff at my lure, I figured I might fish one final gap earlier than calling it quits. I casted my Thomas EP Sequence spinner below a low hanging tree limb, and proper at my ft I related with a pleasant male rainbow. After netting and releasing it, I gave it another forged. On that very subsequent forged, I caught a second rainbow trout. As I mirrored on the day, tears rolled down my face. A trout for every of the family members I’ve misplaced, proper on the buzzer.
Fishing is perseverance and identical to in life, there’s a gentle on the finish of the tunnel, or a fish in that final gap.
Whereas this 12 months has been one of many hardest in my life, I share my story within the hopes that it’ll assist somebody see that the issues of their life are non permanent. Sadly, suicide is a everlasting resolution to these non permanent issues. I exploit at the present time to advocate for psychological well being consciousness, particularly as a result of males are so closely affected by it and fishing is a male dominated sport. Discuss if it’s essential to discuss, cry if it’s essential to cry, scream if it’s essential to scream. It doesn’t make you any much less of a person.
Tight traces everybody, and care for yourselves!
