dirt
04-11-2008, 05:42 PM
It all started out so innocently. I was just walking along, minding my own business when this guy approached me on the street corner. He was selling crawlers - CHEAP! In fact the first bag was free. Seemed like the thing to do at the time. A lot of my friends were experimenting with it and telling me how fun it was. So I thought I would give it a try. What could it hurt, I thought.
That was just the beginning. After a couple of weeks I was up to a couple of dozen a day. And it didnīt stop there. Before I knew it I started trying other baits... leeches and minnows mostly. It turns out crawlers were just a "gateway bait". Before I knew it I was in over my head. I found myself leaving work early and making up excuses to my wife to "go shopping" or "get the car washed". I think she saw through my transparent stories, but she was nice enough in the beginning not to say anything. Then it got worse... much worse.
It was then I started using the "hard baits" Rapalas and Reef Runners; Wally Divers and Wiggle Warts. When my wife found the bill for the Hot īN Tots I had to lie and say one of the guys at work was retiring and they drug me to the strip club... Bless her.
My sickness only got worse from there. I would end up trolling a reef and not remembering how I got there. I would suddenly find myself driving by bait shops that werenīt even on the way home. I hardly ever slept (especially in the spring - night fishing).
I finally hit rock bottom when I woke up with 10 dozen minnows in the bathtub and a refrigerator full of crawlers. My wife was screaming at me "Why canīt you be like the other husbands and just have an affair, or buy an old Mustang or something." I knew then I had a problem. Walleye had taken over my life and I had to take it back.
Iīm getting some help now. My wife is still with me (bless her) and Iīve come to terms with my problem. I still fish for walleye but I do it with a sponsor. He keeps me in check. Itīs been a hard battle but I think Iīm starting to get to a better place.
All I can say from my experiences is enjoy it .... just donīt let it take over.
Have a good one.
Dirt
That was just the beginning. After a couple of weeks I was up to a couple of dozen a day. And it didnīt stop there. Before I knew it I started trying other baits... leeches and minnows mostly. It turns out crawlers were just a "gateway bait". Before I knew it I was in over my head. I found myself leaving work early and making up excuses to my wife to "go shopping" or "get the car washed". I think she saw through my transparent stories, but she was nice enough in the beginning not to say anything. Then it got worse... much worse.
It was then I started using the "hard baits" Rapalas and Reef Runners; Wally Divers and Wiggle Warts. When my wife found the bill for the Hot īN Tots I had to lie and say one of the guys at work was retiring and they drug me to the strip club... Bless her.
My sickness only got worse from there. I would end up trolling a reef and not remembering how I got there. I would suddenly find myself driving by bait shops that werenīt even on the way home. I hardly ever slept (especially in the spring - night fishing).
I finally hit rock bottom when I woke up with 10 dozen minnows in the bathtub and a refrigerator full of crawlers. My wife was screaming at me "Why canīt you be like the other husbands and just have an affair, or buy an old Mustang or something." I knew then I had a problem. Walleye had taken over my life and I had to take it back.
Iīm getting some help now. My wife is still with me (bless her) and Iīve come to terms with my problem. I still fish for walleye but I do it with a sponsor. He keeps me in check. Itīs been a hard battle but I think Iīm starting to get to a better place.
All I can say from my experiences is enjoy it .... just donīt let it take over.
Have a good one.
Dirt