Northern Pike on the fly!

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Stewardship " The Promise Keepers"

A broken treaty! Another promise not kept! When do humans start giving back? When do they fulfill their role in the circle of life? I can hear you now, saying " What role? I made no treaty, no agreement." Wrong! Every time you go on the lake or enter the woods, you become part of a promise. Creation has gifts for you, and all her players are willing participants. Accept their role in the giving. In 88 million years of my ancestor's existence, there is no doubt that humans are the masters. You only have to ask them. I agree, they are masters, master takers. They are the unquestionable champions of consumption.

When do humans fulfill their part of the promise? Like the rest of creation, I keep waiting and waiting, thinking surely they will awaken. Surely they won't take everything until there is nothing left to take, until all that will be left is stealing from each other.

Maybe it's been so long since they have given anything back that they have forgotten how. Even if they have read this far, I know that the "takers" are saying about now, "I don't need this environmental mumbo jumbo." Again wrong, because what I tell you will have a direct effect on you catching fish or continuing to catch fish. I include continuing to catch fish because some of the anglers who have been having success are running out of time. Look through your angling group. There are numerous anglers who caught plenty of fish in the past and still contain within them the knowledge and experience, but no longer produce results. You will hear many excuses from them about why this has happened, but none of them understand that their betrayal of the fish may be the problem. The fish have stopped giving themselves to these fisherpersons.

Like humans, the Fish Hawk is also a predator. We must feed on other creatures to survive. This is a natural law. We only kill or take what is necessary. We have a role, a higher purpose, and we must respect everything else's role and purpose in the circle of life. Without that respect there is no harmony and life becomes out of balance, out of control.

How do humans give back? First, you must get over your excessive behavior. Don't kill or take what is not necessary to your existence. Respect and recognize that all other creatures are part of the higher purpose and deserve their space.

As anglers you must understand the three stages of your evolution as a complete angler, a complete human. During these three stages you and your intentions, both conscious and subconscious, are being monitored.

Stage One
Stage one is known as the "Grace or Awakening Period." During this period, when the angler or human is learning, they are allowed the freedom to pursue their passion without having to be concerned about a higher purpose beyond their own personal needs and desires. During this formative stage mistakes are tolerated. This is a time for developing and sharpening one's physical and mental skills. It is a time for exploring and experimenting with your infinite abilities; it is a time of tapping into all the resources of creation and using its gifts to form yourself into a perfect predator. At this time one may or may not be aware of their role in the great cosmic play. They are simply learning to be an efficient predator without fully understanding their responsibility. Still, it is important to understand that the universal consciousness is monitoring you, searching your deepest intentions for a sense of higher purpose beyond your personal needs. It will only allow you to advance to "Stage Two" when it detects a higher purpose intention within you. If not detected you will remain in this stage. This is the stage most human anglers are stuck in.

Stage Two
Stage two is the "Success / Reverence" stage. This is the stage when the angler uses the mental and physical skills they have developed to realize their goals and desires. They begin to achieve success and the associated honors and awards. It is crucial to understand that success is not necessarily winning or being first. These are man made concepts of success, as are monetary gains and obtaining material possessions. True success is experiencing your skills and talents as an art, beyond just a means to survive. It is knowing you have done your best. It is touching perfection in what you most love to do.

Contained within the euphoria of those moments are infinite possibilities or infinite confusion. Most will experience a sense of reverence for all of creation at this exhilarating moment. This is your cue from the universe that you must begin to become aware of the higher purpose in your actions, past and future. How one responds at this point is critical. It's time to realize that you didn't learn to be a perfect predator just to prey on your victims. You have a role beyond just your own survival. You have a greater role in assuring a balance and harmony with all of God's creatures, except your role and life is truly magical. Ignore it, become a slave to only material gain, egotistical honors and awards and you are doomed to the miseries of the world you create. You are wasting your talents and gifts. Your lack of responding to creation prevents it from responding back to you. You have cut yourself off from its magic.

Your awareness of a higher purpose behind your abilities and even the smallest hint of desire to respond to your higher purpose opens the door for you to the next stage.

Stage two is temporal. You can not remain there. You must realize your higher purpose, commit to it and move forward or slide backwards. You have observed both with your fellow anglers.

Stage Three
During this stage you begin to learn the ways you must give back to all the players in your sphere of influence. Humans often refer to this as service to society. Service to society is certainly part of the giving back process but that in itself is incomplete. As anglers you must not just represent humans, but you must represent all the players. You must become an "Earth Warrior". You must speak for the Earth and all her creatures. You must be willing to heal the Earth and her creatures that have tolerated so much abuse. In some cases you must even be willing to fight for the Earth and for future generations of all creatures. Every time you enter the woods or waters you must be determined that your presence and actions have a positive effect. Pick up floating cans. Clean up your campsite. Pick up discarded line (yours and others). Be gentler with the fish you catch. Be appreciative and respectful. Be aware of the beauty in all the natural world around you. Do not curse the wind or the rain. Do not be afraid to challenge those who in their greed destroy habitat or pollute the planet. As the air, water, sun, and fish sustain us Loons, it also sustains you.

It's time for humans to become the true custodians of the earth that they were created to be. The "Promise" is simple. You must be willing to give as much as you take.