Tuesday
03.07.2023
9:07pm CST
​

Snap!

Not the sound you want to hear when you have the best fish of the day on your line.

I spent the weekend camping at Mustang Island State Park (MISP) and fly fishing from my kayak in the Texas salt flats. (marsh)

So I was drifting across a grass flat that was covered with about 2 feet of water casting to deeper pockets. I allow the wind to take me where it wants to take me. I also happen to be watching a beautiful Osprey fish in my area and then it happened without warning.

On one of my 100’s of casts my crab fly hit the water and a redfish took it instantly and ran.

I knew I had a good fish on the line because he started pulling line off my reel. Yes, instead of me reeling this fish in he was pulling line from me. I tighten the drag a little to slow him down and after about 3 minutes of working the fish she was ready to come to the kayak. It was a beautiful fish I would guess about 25 inches with a pretty bronze color.

On a side note, I do eat some of the fish I catch but many I release and I have read and studied how to properly fight, care for and release the fish to maximize their survival.

But here is where the story turns tragic.

Before the fish was in the boat, I started trying to reach for my iPhone!

WTF was I thinking.

WTF is what you are thinking right now right? “Mr. I thought your were a flip phone guy!”

When I fish on the Texas coast I am generally 3 or so miles from where I parked my truck and my wife strongly prefers that I keep my smartphone with me. She can check on me via “find my friends” - you know that apple creep invasion of privacy tool they tells us is for our own good. But I digress.

Anyway, there I was with my prize fish next to me in the water ready for me to use my fish grips and pull her into the kayak. Instead I decide I should get my iPhone and take a picture or video. I iPhone was in my bag that was in the front of the boat so I had to lean forward to reach it. As I did that I allowed slack in the line and in that instant the fish that I thought was worn out gave one last try and bolted resulting in my broken line and her freedom. Of course sadly with a hook still in her mouth.

Neil Postman in 1993 gave a talk at Apple. It was one of the greatest speeches I have ever heard. Email and I will send you the link if you cannot find it yourself.

In this talk he said

Technology is a doubled-edged sword. Technology giveth and taketh away and not always in equal measure.

He would go on to say that technology creates winners and losers.

In short the winners promote all of the features and benefits we will gain never highlighting the loss of privacy or addictive qualities and even worse influencing WHAT we think about even when NOT using the device.

I allowed my desire to share a great moment to steal my present experience.

You be thinking - you wanted to take a picture - the fact that you happen be using a smartphone as your camera is not the smartphones problem right?

Well, I am not so sure.

There has been studies that have shown that smartphones have a degree of saliency to them.

As I used the phone over the week or so before (yeah I rationalized putting my SIM in early before this trip) I struggled with my mind finding use cases for my iPhone in my daily life - of course to make my life easier.

I notice the same progression when I was quitting alcohol.

• The cycle is like this quit for an extended time - 90, 120 days.
• Hubris sets in and you think “I got this now”
• You re introduce alcohol/phone and at first you are right - things do not change that much but you mind understands that there is a new option available and it begins to work.

Those previous mental patterns are grooves and as you begin to repeat the patterns as before the grooves are reestablished and research says they come back even stronger.

I got home from fishing and swapped out my sim.

• Not using a smartphone is inconvenient.
• Not using a smartphone is the hard way.
• Not using a smartphone is the better way.

If you need help to talk through your transition from smartphone to the dumbphone life - I am offering a free 1 on 1 call to help understand your challenges and goals.

Sign up for a time with here.

Your Friend

Terry