Obsessive-Compulsive Fish Disorder

Here we are again. Another tournament season in the books, and the holiday season fast approaches. Not to mention the cooler weather has anglers already anticipating spring fishing. Over the years, I learned this phenomenon occurs normally among all die-hard anglers. Some call it the winter blues while others call it spring anticipation.

My wife just calls it me being obsessive-compulsive when it comes to fishing. Guilty as charged. After all, it's been my livelihood for some time now. But it has also been a deep-rooted part of my life since I first rummaged through my father's tackle box as a child looking for something to tempt bass on local lakes.

You may also suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Fish Disorder (OCFD) if you display any of these common symptoms. First, there is an overeager interest in water while driving a car. It's like when driving with a dog in the car and he sees a cat outside. He will get excited and lurch his head toward the window. We extend our necks and contort them in awkward positions as if we intend to spy a bass jumping out of the water through the opening in the trees at 70 mph on the interstate. But it's done in an effort to unearth a secret spot none of our buddies have found yet.

Next, there is an uncontrollable urge to organize and reorganize our tackle on a weekly, if not daily basis. We don't have crankbait boxes. We have 6- to 8-foot-diving crankbait boxes, deep-diving crankbait boxes and crawfish-patterned , No. 4 Eagle Claw-hooked, lipless crankbait boxes. And those constantly need reorganizing and catagorizing based on the last trip we took to the lake when we wished we had brought our shad-colored, 0- to 2-foot-diving crankbait box to fish around the grass.

While the tackle compulsions are problematic, they are not nearly as troublesome as the inability to go into a tackle shop and leave empty-handed. We go to just browse the selection, yet we come out with hooks, weights, six-packs of worms and two new swimbaits that probably won't work on our lake - but we know we'll probably fish somewhere they could work in the near future. And of course we're not able to buy just one of those; we need, at the minimum, two of everything, as we're liable to lose one, or worse yet, have to loan one to our team partner in a tournament.

Finally, Internet-savy anglers suffer from sleep deprivation from scouring the Web for new baits and colors, or posting fishing opinions on forums and blogs about the best anglers and destinations. And if I read somewhere that someone is killing them on a new sexy shad crankbait or new swimbait, and I think I can make it work on Kentucky Lake, it's off to the store I go.

I have baits hanging on the wall in my garage in unopened packages, yet whenever I go into Walmart, I have to make a quick trip through the fishing section to make sure I'm not "missing" anything. After all, luck favors the prepared. That should probably be the motto for those with OCFD.

So when my wife tells me I'm being compulsive about my fishing I just smile and tell her I understand, as I explain there are things in the garage that need my attention. After all, I think my tournament partner put a red Rat-L-Trap in my 4- to 6-foot shad crankbait box, and that just won't do.

GOOD FISHING...........brownie