Frisch: I am lucky

As we head into another year, lots of people make new year's resolutions. I do make goals and resolutions for the coming year too, but I also like to reflect back on the past as well. In doing so this year, I am realizing just how fortunate I am, particularly when it comes to the outdoors!

First, I am lucky to have grown up in an active family that introduced me to a fishing and hunting lifestyle. Today, many of the best times of my life are spent on the water or in the woods or field. Also, I make my living in the fishing industry and have parents and grandparents to thank for getting me started in this lifestyle, a start that eventually allowed me to make a living doing what I love doing most.

Along those lines, I am very fortunate to travel to some of the finest fishing destinations in the Midwest while calling it “work.” I consider Big Stone Lake on the South Dakota/Minnesota border one of the finest multi-seasons, multi-species fisheries that exists, and I get to fish there a couple of times a year while filming TV episodes for Fishing the Midwest TV. The TV production crew and I are also fortunate to travel to some of the most scenic areas in America, places like Kabetogama Lake in Voyageurs National Park, where the scenery is pristine, wildlife is abundant, and the fishing is world-class too!

My career takes me to great places and also allows me to fish with top equipment and sometimes sample new baits and new lures as well. For example, a couple of relatively new hard baits, one called a Hybrid Hunter and the other a Chick Magnet, have been in my

boat recently and are usually really good fish producers. Sometimes, maybe oftentimes, having these and other new baits that the fish haven’t seen, or have rarely seen, is what it takes to turn a so-so bite into a dynamite bite. I am fortunate to have access to great equipment, sometimes just as it comes to the retail marketplace, at my disposal.

I am thankful for the family who introduced me to the outdoors, for my career, and for the equipment I am privileged to use as well. Mostly, however, I am fortunate to spend quality time with friends and family on the water every year. I get to spend a good amount of time in the boat with folks I really like, and I am fortunate to share those times and the memories made with them. Also, kids are frequent guests in my boat, and I really enjoy the time with them and the chance to “pay it forward,” as they say. Catching fish and seeing the beauty of the outdoors are definite benefits of a fishing lifestyle, but nothing beats quality time in a boat with good people.

In summarizing this, a fishing mentor of mine, Hall of Fame Angler Duane Peterson, often says that fishing has enriched his life. It has mine too, and for that, I am so very thankful. Here’s wishing you a great new year, and hopefully, your year is filled with making great memories in the boat as well!

Good luck on the water and ice, and, as always, remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors adventure!

Mike Frisch hosts the popular Fishing the Midwest TV series on The Sportsman Channel and several other networks. Visit www.fishingthemidwest.com to learn more and see all things Fishing the Midwest.