Tracking Santa Claus as he flies across the skies Christmas Eve is easy, according to my five-year-old granddaughter. He hasn’t flown yet, she tells me, but when he does, the two of us will be watching his flight on the internet as he leaves the North Pole and heads to where good boys and girls live all over the world.
According to her, the two of us and her pet rabbit, Blue, and pet parakeet, Tweety, will track Santa thanks to the GPS unit attached to Rudolph’s nose via a special web site. As those of us past the age of 50 realize, Rudolph’s story as Santa’s lead reindeer is not as thrilling in 2020 as it was when I read it to my children at Christmas time in the 1970s. When Santa gets close to Colorado Springs, my beloved granddaughter tells me it will be time for lights out and sleep, or Santa will know someone’s watching. The one thing that remains consistent through the years is that children from 2-92 still look forward to seeing what Santa brought for Christmas Day.
Grandpa (me) agreed to Facetiming and tracking the flight of a weight-challenged jolly old elf together. Who could refuse a granddaughter who is full of wonder and excitement about the holiday? As long as cookies and eggnog are involved in the observation of Santa’s flight across the USA, I have no problems spending time with the young lady who was the best gift ever when she was born.
I admit it got me to thinking about GPS, the internet and fishing once we signed off on Facetime. Times have changed in the outdoor world, especially in angling. As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, science and technology have produced significant changes to fishing line, rods, reels and even our clothing that make fishing fun rather than a good chance of suffering through equipment malfunctions.
Salt water, fresh water, river, stream and lake fishermen employ the use of Global Positioning Systems every time they hit the water. They do so because the GPS system is on their cellphones, boats, drones and other electronic devices which allows the angler to mark areas on the bodies of water where they have successfully caught fish. The use of radar technology when fishing now gives the angler the opportunity to search the entire water column for fish, as well as showing weather, phases of the moon and other pertinent information key to catching fish on the devices used screen.
These techno-changes alone eliminate hours of trolling, or guessing, where the fish might be. Since fishing time is always a luxury, wasting it doesn’t make sense, especially in this fast-paced world. When we examine the size and weight of spin, casting or fly reels that have hit the market since Y2K, the advantage for the angler versus fish list becomes even longer. Again, the advantage is to the angler most of the time. Fishing was once a mystery. Today, it’s about setting the hook because the mystery about where and when has been solved. All that is left now is the choice of what fly, lure or bait to use.
Speaking of lists, anglers have their Christmas wish lists, too. I am sure those who are expected to give the gift have been getting hints, if not downright pleading, from those submitting them. For those anglers eagerly awaiting whatever special fishing item was on their wish list will now have to wait until Friday morning. Just make sure you quit tracking Santa on Thursday evening before he flies over your house. You don’t want to be missed. Merry Christmas, everyone.
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