One Year

One year ago to the day, I sat down and composed the first entry of Solid Hookups. I knew not how it would read, nor if it would be at all. I was very pleased that I had landed a fish on opening day to post a picture of, and also very pleased to share what I thought to be a somewhat entertaining story; a story of a time of year that all can relate to - the beginning of fishing season.

I had the pleasure of meeting Wilkie and Clark on the banks of Collyer Brook on opening day and while no fish were landed, or caught, or hooked, it was still a fine time, after all, it's still 'fishing' and not 'catching.' Even though I had fished with the two just a few weekends prior, there was a sense of reunion in the air.

Fishing on opening day can be a little bittersweet. On one hand, it's the first time in six months that you can legally cast into just about any body of water. The fish haven't seen flies in half a year. They are hungry. One the other, the water's freezing still. And it's high. And it's muddy. Fish are lethargic and do not display great exhibitions of energy to feed. It's tough to hook fish on opening day. Even if you do, you probably haven't felt a fighting fish since September and you'll probably be a bit rusty.

Nevertheless, there you are. Grizzly, check.

While standing river-side, I noted to Wilkie that Solid Hookups was about to reach its one-year anniversary. I also mentioned that I thought it would be fun to see the page hits reach 10k by that time. Well, low and behold, after checking the blog last night before passing out and seeing the hits somewhere around 9,990, this morning when I looked again, sure enough we had broke 10,000. Being the number/analyst type, I thought it would be interesting to see some numbers about the blog, on its birthday.

Thanks to all who have contributed and those who have read. Take time when you have a chance and read some of the older posts by yourself and others. They're like old friends. And, as always, Seek the Freedom of the Water.

Solid Hookups, by the numbers:

- 365 days young
- 173 posts
- 10,029 hits
- 33 countries
- 20 contributors
- 12 haikus
- 156 hangovers, at least
- 427 comments
- add yours below