I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. The kind of thinking that occurs on long car rides kind of thinking. Questions that nag at you for hours on end and then amazingly, if you are paying attention to it, an idea presents itself. That idea is My Minimalist Excursion.

How does it pertain to fishing you ask? If you didn't, I did. From a fishing perspective it applies in a variety of ways.

For me fishing is an escape from the background noise that is the daily routine. A chance to get grounded in nature again and remember that things can be simple and fun if I let them.

Often the fishing gets bogged down in technique, gear, locations, etc. I spend more time worrying about do I have the right rod, line, flies, fly box, waders...am I fishing in the right location, right river, targetting the right quarry...that in the end I missed the opportunity to get grounded again.
So in the words of Thoreau...I am simplifying.

Here are the realities. Married, father of 2 boys under the age of 8, owner of my own business. So let's just say I don't have a ton of time to fish. That is okay. I signed up for all of the other things and everything has a place in my life's schedule, just seems like fishing has been a lot lower on the priority list lately.

So working with that framework, my minimalist idea is to help create for me the maximum opportunity at enjoying this grand sport. This is my idea for me.

I am breaking it down into a variety of categories. Gear, tactics, flies and fly selection, etc. There will be some blurry lines but this is going to be a fun experiment.