It’s Official, I’m Done.

[Quillback]

You can't use the excuse that you don't have enough time to exercise.  I walk an hour a day, do some stretching, some weight work.  If you want to fish when you are getting up there in years, you need to keep yourself functional.  

[Ham]

9 hours ago, Gavin said:

Congrats! I hope you like it. Boredom & depression often follow. It is hard to restructure your life.

I sincerely Hope that I am never bored nor depressed. I’m (so far) staying pretty busy and I have so much more fishing that I want to do than I have time for.

already, I can feel myself relaxing and taking more time with a project because I have MORE time to get things done. 

as it cools off a little and becomes more comfortable to be in the boat barn, I really want to go through and organize my fishing gear. I know I have too much. Like waaaaaay too much. Maybe by realizing how silly I was to buy so much stuff before, I will buy less going forward.

I will give some stuff away. Sell some stuff. And hopefully use some stuff up.

One idea I have is to have some grab and go bags. Trying to have stuff ready to go without the mad scramble the day before a trip. 
For example:

My Ned stuff would be gathered and enough in a bag to run to the creek.
A bag for 4 inch ochos and squirrel heads ready to go to the lake.

A bag of zoom super flukes and the hooks that I like for them.

a bowfin bag.

A catfish/ sucker bag. 

then there is the fly fishing stuff to work through. Every time I tie. I get organized a little bet so that less time is spend looking and setting up. I don’t have a full time designated area to tie and probably won’t ever. I want to have a tote of all the fly related stuff. When I tie something that I know I like, I will often tie up more than I plan to take with me on any given trip. I’d like a tote to put ziplocks of completed flys in so I can restock quickly. Heck, I could put smaller ziplocks into gallon bags. A trout bag, panfish bag, bowfin bag, etc.

I have a bunch of 3600’s and 3700’s. I can spend some winter days sorting through those. A keep pile and a go away pile. Then organize the sorted boxes in a yet to be fully thought out way that lets me find what I am looking for more quickly.

I am trying to fish about three days a week. It might be a little more at times and maybe a little less at times. Fishing 175 days a year seems about right. A part time fisherman as it were. 
I am catching up on home projects and getting more into meal prep and cooking.

I have books to read, playlist to make, and podcasts to listen to.

It’s been really Fun so far. 

 

[snagged in outlet 3]

My wife retired a couple years ago.   She slept so much I was starting to worry.   I guess all the stress was melting away and she was finally relaxing.  It lasted a couple months.   Now she’s settled in.  
 

I work remotely so I have more freedom than most.  Like @Quillback we walk or work out every day.   Some days both.  She’s never bored.   I can’t wait to retire.   I’m glad for you, @Ham!

[Quillback]

As Ham @Ham, I have way too much fishing stuff.  If Ham was closer, I'd say, hey let's get together and have a garage sale.  I can tell you where I live, if I put a garage sale sign out with something like "Lots of fishing gear for sale" there will be lots of people stopping by.

 

[Flysmallie]

Congratulations Ham. I can’t wait for the day myself, but I some more time to serve. I know I won’t get bored when it’s time. 

[gramps50]

Congratulations @Ham enjoy your retirement I know I am. I retired 19 years ago & haven’t regretted it for 1 minute. I think the whole trick to the stress & depression thing is to stay busy. I think the sitting around doing nothing is what causes the stress & depression. When hobbies stop being fun, I stop & find a new one.  Never get rid of the old one just pack it away for a while. I have several that I rotate through & add a new one from time to time. I think the whole trick to a happy long retirement is to keep busy but at your own pace.

[BilletHead]

18 hours ago, Gavin said:

Congrats! I hope you like it. Boredom & depression often follow. It is hard to restructure your life.

    I have not been bored one minute. I stayed busy and when Pat retired it got double busy. 

[Terrierman]

Dear Ham:

You've told me more than once about how I earned my retirement and that I should enjoy it to the fullest.  You were right.  Now it's time for you to follow your own advice.  You're smart enough that I do not doubt that you will.  I wish you and your family the absolute very best for every day in every way.

I trust you remember that we met at Jigfest # 1.  I'll never forget it.  Wrecked shoulder, no hat without Quillback's most welcome assistance and Fat Bastard dancing around on the deck. 🤪 

Is there any way you can show up this year?  Same time, same place.  

Your Friend, 

Rick

[Quillback]

[Ham]

21 hours ago, Terrierman said:

Dear Ham:

You've told me more than once about how I earned my retirement and that I should enjoy it to the fullest.  You were right.  Now it's time for you to follow your own advice.  You're smart enough that I do not doubt that you will.  I wish you and your family the absolute very best for every day in every way.

I trust you remember that we met at Jigfest # 1.  I'll never forget it.  Wrecked shoulder, no hat without Quillback's most welcome assistance and Fat Bastard dancing around on the deck. 🤪 

Is there any way you can show up this year?  Same time, same place.  

Your Friend, 

Rick

I’ll try to make that happen. I’ll have to brush up on my trout fishing skills. 
you’re the Man Rick.