| A Memorable Ice-fishing trip to Strike Dam and | | | | I have done plenty of river fishing for trout. In |
| the lesson re-learned | | | | the winter time, however, their biting is extremely |
| A few years ago, I realized that I had been living | | | | slow and soft. I knew if I was going to snag the |
| in Idaho most of my adult life and had never | | | | big guy that had been nibbling my bait all day, I |
| been ice-fishing, not once. | | | | was going to have to snag him with the hook. I |
| As a child growing up in the Midwest, I was an | | | | just couldn't seem to get the feel of how to do |
| avid fisher. In the summertime I could walk five | | | | that, even after trying for almost eight hours to |
| minutes in any direction and drop a line into the | | | | side-snag him. |
| water within ten minutes tops. | | | | Suddenly, I set the hook. When I couldn't |
| In the winter time there was more preparation; | | | | immediately pull him to the surface, I knew I had |
| an early rise to get onto ice, auger the hole, stick | | | | caught one of the larger trout in the dam. The |
| a mousy onto the hook and drop the line took | | | | adrenaline rushing through that experience didn't |
| about an hour, altogether, even with lakes only | | | | allow the question I knew was there, under the |
| five minutes away. (Six layers of clothes, followed | | | | surface. Could I hold onto him long enough to get |
| by strapping on ice-fishing coveralls, loading the | | | | him up through the ice? |
| gear into the truck, and stopping at the store to | | | | It took a good five minutes of what seemed a |
| get beverages and lunches took a good fifty | | | | small eternity, to get his head up through the ice. |
| minutes.) | | | | George was at the ready and stuck his thumb |
| In those days of my childhood, ice fishing meant | | | | and index fingers into his mouth and gill to |
| three of us coming home with upwards of 60-100 | | | | securely hold him. Eleven pounds and |
| bluegill, crappie, bass and perch, enough fish to | | | | three-quarter ounces, by far the largest trout I |
| feed family and relatives for weeks on end. | | | | had ever caught in twenty years of fishing the |
| Ice fishing in Idaho was still a mystery to me. The | | | | lakes, rivers and streams of norther Idaho, in the |
| lakes with enough winter ice are far and few | | | | mountains. |
| between. I did not want to go, alone, which is | | | | My friends and family watch me...but do not |
| never a good idea, anyway. | | | | comprehend... |
| I called a friend of the family I knew had done | | | | I have thought about that fishing trip many times, |
| some ice fishing on Strike Dam to the east and | | | | over the years. Had I given in to my impulses to |
| south of Boise. He was excited to take me on | | | | give up on catching a fish that day, would I have |
| my first ice fishing excursion. | | | | carried with me the tendency to give up sooner, |
| When we got to the dam, we observed where | | | | rather than later? |
| the majority of the old-timers were. And there | | | | Can you look over the course of your own life |
| were already a few small to medium-sized trout | | | | and remember experiences where you may have |
| laying on the ice. | | | | given up, too soon? If you'd only hung in there, |
| George said, "that's where we're going...where | | | | even a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, a |
| they're biting." | | | | few months, or a few years longer...would the |
| A Long, lonely day, without catching so much as a | | | | outcome have been different? Would you, at the |
| single trout | | | | very least, have come away with a more |
| There he sat on the cold, hard ice of Strike Dam, | | | | stick-to-it-ness? |
| located in southern Idaho, in sub-zero weather for | | | | Building your work-at-home business, more often |
| eight hours, with not one fish to show to all those | | | | than not, requires the patience of Job. My friends |
| wily wabbits, catching two to five pounders, | | | | and family know how hard, how many long hours |
| displayed proudly all around them! Plodding turtle | | | | I work at my online business. They know I make |
| was ready to give up. What was the point? It | | | | money from a variety of different means, but |
| was now 4:30 p.m., the sun was about to set, | | | | they do not comprehend the focus, drive and |
| and all he was getting, all day long, were | | | | relentless patience and stubborn refusal to give up |
| extremely slow and periodic nibbles on the mousy | | | | on any new endeavor I undertake, until I have |
| bait hooked to the end of his line. Give up? | | | | achieve my biggest goals. |
| George was ready to go. He had snagged one | | | | What's in your wallet...is far less important than |
| medium-sized trout of around four pounds. He | | | | what is in your mind...the patience of Job to |
| kept asking me if I was about to give it up for | | | | achieve on line success...or the easy path to quit, |
| the day. I kept telling George, "I'm still getting | | | | just before you achieve the success you are |
| bites. Let's give it a few more minutes." | | | | seeking? |