Jan 19, 2019 4 min read

I often believe we can think too much. Overthinking causes brain fatigue and memory lapses. After all, most down and dirty anglers and hunters are well noted for allowing our thoughts to roam from calculus and study to dreams of an animal that can cause car wrecks to another that causes great frustration.

Can the deer hunter begin to understand the wasting of so much time and money searching for an animal not because it tastes good but because of a growth of bone on its head? If so much effort is spent seeking those bone growths, then how much more would be spent if a peacock grew antlers?

Turning to the attempt of piscatorial beasts who try to catch fish that live under the surface of a lake or a creek. It has been said, that to catch a fish one must think like a fish. Now let’s face reality, a fish is kind of stupid. It can’t add or subtract nor can it count to 10. Therefore, people who catch fish are not so bright. See, I did pay attention in algebra class.

Next, a top bait for catching fish, I would say, is the good old garden worm, or better yet a night crawler. A trout living in a remote mountain stream might live a lifetime without ever seeing a night crawler let alone taste one. Yet a trout will grab and swallow it quickly. I have actually seen trout fight over a worm. That is like you and me fighting over a kumquat when I have never seen or tasted one. Maybe it is in the fish genes. The things you can think about are endless.

Then I was thinking about the bass family. Down south, there are fishing tournaments where the goal is to catch as many bass as quickly as possible. With that in mind, the fishing rods are heavy and stiff and the line on the reel is heavy. It is not unusual for a southern angler to use 30- to 60-pound line on his reel. I personally like to fish with four-pound line, and by using my finesse along with skill land fish up to 25 pounds on tackle. But back to that southern fisherman. He might accidentally hook and land a 10-foot alligator. He needs a heavier line. I don’t think I could hook, play and land such a creature on my four-pound line. I am also not sure I would want to. Can you imagine trying to put a 10-foot alligator on your stringer? I think I’m still thinking too much.

Lastly, I was thinking about when I was young – yes, I was young at one time – I shot a really nice nine-point buck in Washington County. It was my first of many, but I had never field dressed one before. I don’t know who first used that word dress when, in reality, I would think it more appropriate to call it undressing the deer. Back then, I thought it was nothing more than cleaning a big rabbit. After I got through that task, I grabbed a back leg and started what I now know is a long job of getting my buck to the car. I had only gone a short distance when my partner showed up with a suggestion: Maybe I should be pulling it forward from its front end. His idea was it would slide easier. We were both novices so I looked at him blankly for a moment, overthinking again. “But,” I said, “if I went to the front of the deer I would be dragging the deer away from the vehicle.”

I never told you I was a genius.

George Block writes a Sunday outdoor column for the Observer-Reporter.