One of the really great things about summer (and there are many nice things about summer) is the fishing that the season affords with ease.

Sure, you can fish during the winter, and that takes a whole different breed of person; one, they have to be able to venture out on the cracking ice without freaking out; and two, you have to enjoy winter to some degree (unless you only go out on relatively mild winter days).

Ice fishing can be fun, and it helps when you have a shack to shield you from the wind - but by its very nature, fishing in the summer is just easier, and anybody can do it.

This past weekend was one of those free weekends for fishing, to encourage those who haven't yet got their licenses to go out and enjoy a day of fishing, and enjoy it enough to splurge for the licence.

I don't have to worry about getting out on one of those free weekends, because I do have a current fishing licence, so I can go out when it's less crowded (which I prefer anyway). All the same, it's nice to have those weekends, so those who don't ordinarily get out; anything that can positively promote recreational fishing is a good thing, I figure.

I have had some good experiences fishing, and while I don't always come home with anything, it's still good to get out in the fresh air and enjoy some time in nature.

Now, granted, fishing is a bit like sports - you know how they try to take away competition in sports to make it "fun"? For some people that works, but for others, it wimps out the sport and takes away any chance for fun.

To an extent, fishing's like that; not competitive (unless you're going head to head with a friend/wife/girlfriend/acquaintance in the next boat to see who catches the most) necessarily, but it is more fun when you catch one, or at least have the opportunity to fight one before it gets away.

While it's frustrating to lose a fish that you had on the line, it's more frustrating to spend a few hours at a lake and not even get a nibble, even when you change locations and tackle, trying different lures and speeds of reeling in the line. When you just don't get a nibble of any kind, you find out what your real motivation for being out there is; are you just there to land fish, or are you there to enjoy yourself, see some nature and get some fresh air?

Anyway, I'm kind of a combination of both, so hopefully I'll have some nice days for fishing coming up. Now, you take my daughter, the writer - she had a really different view of things altogether. She's strictly the "enjoy the fresh air and nature" type of fisher. The thing is, she says she enjoys casting the line out and reeling it in - but she'd really rather not catch anything. She says if she actually got something while fishing with me, she'd immediately hand off the rod to me to deal with it; she wants nothing to do with landing a fish, or of cleaning it or eating it.

Poor kid - she doesn't even like watching fish in an aquarium - the good news is, it leaves more for the rest of us to catch. Good fishing!