My name is Pat Murdough and I've been fishing for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I was given a little plastic fishing rod and fishes as a gift. That toy fishing rod was my first real possession that I can remember.
And now, I love fishing unequivocally, irrevocably, and absolutely.
Growing up in New England, specifically New Hampshire and Vermont, there were numerous opportunities to go "drown some worms" as my family called it. I fished with my Uncle Bert and my father a lot, but only recall a handful of specific excursions. My first real friends were an elderly couple who lived across the street, George and Ginny, and George and I shared an affinity for angling, and went on a few trips together before he died. My first setup was a Zebco reel on five foot Shakespeare rod, which I still use to this day for ultra-light stream fishing. My collection of rods and reels has grown exponentially since then, but I LOVE the feel of that old Shakespeare so much, and, as cliche as it sounds, it really does bring me back to a much simpler time and place.
Growing up in New England, specifically New Hampshire and Vermont, there were numerous opportunities to go "drown some worms" as my family called it. I fished with my Uncle Bert and my father a lot, but only recall a handful of specific excursions. My first real friends were an elderly couple who lived across the street, George and Ginny, and George and I shared an affinity for angling, and went on a few trips together before he died. My first setup was a Zebco reel on five foot Shakespeare rod, which I still use to this day for ultra-light stream fishing. My collection of rods and reels has grown exponentially since then, but I LOVE the feel of that old Shakespeare so much, and, as cliche as it sounds, it really does bring me back to a much simpler time and place.
When I was in Junior High, our family moved to a larger house in a different section of town. Bicycle being the only mobility I was afforded, I rode everywhere, exploring strange new back roads and wooded trails. It wasn't long before I found various brooks and streams on these exploratory rides, and I started bringing my Shakespeare everywhere with me so I could fish these unexploited areas. When I got my driver's license and my parents gave me access to the family Astro Van, I would throw my gear in the back and drive to even more distant ponds and streams in my efforts to become a more knowledgeable and therefore better angler, and spent as many days as possible doing what I really loved.
As I got older, fishing took a backseat to what I considered to be more important at the time: school, earning a paycheck, and chasing pussy. I fell in with a crowd of mostly goth kids and, in order to win their approval, began to reject and resent my small hometown and anything that I thought exemplified "redneck behavior." This included anything having to do with things like classic rock, trucks, and hunting and fishing. I did not fish from my Junior year of high school until sometime around my last year of college, and even then only minimally. At that time I was employed as a body piercer at a local tattoo shop, attempting to be a goth club dj, and working on a somewhat long distance relationship, so fishing was pretty low on my list of priorities.
I now live in Middlesex County, CT with my wife, Kate, and our son, Henson, who, as I post this, is almost 8 months old. We live just outside of a larger city, and we own a small cottage in a wooded area near the CT river. I own a tattoo shop in Berlin, CT, about 20 minutes from my home, and I work about six days a week from 11AM to 8PM. And every moment I am able to, I go fishing.
When I was younger I primarily fished for trout. Now, because CT's trout stocking system is so poor and trout are scarce barely a month after opening day, I concentrate on bass. However, as I tell any one who asks, I fish for "whatever's biting." I'm not a picky person by nature. I fish for striper, trout, crappie...whatever and wherever I can.
I'm starting this blog as a sort of fishing journal, chronicling my fishing trips and catches, as well as discussing various setups, types of fishing, and general angling stupidity that I get into, either by myself or with friends. I am by no means an expert, but I will do my best to provide useful information based on my location and my experience, hopefully with a lot of photos and videos.
I will also be posting relevant artwork that I do, and probably have tshirts and stickers available to promote and support my blog.
So I hope that you enjoy what I'm doing here, and I promise I will TRY to keep posting regularly to keep future installments a lot more succinct. Thanks for looking, and good luck out there.
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