This is a busy time of year at the newspaper. It seems that there’s always a traffic jam of events at the tail end of winter, which keeps us hopping from mid-January until the end of March. I guess that’s good, but in a way it’s my least favorite time of year. Why? Because I have no shortage of invitations to go fishing, and no time to take anyone up on them. In fact, with the production of the WaterLine Annual Guide in full swing this week, I don’t even have time to celebrate my wedding anniversary (I’m really sorry, hon — I guess we should have gotten married in summer).

Spending time on the water is a luxury that I just can’t afford at the moment, but I do look forward to when things slow down a bit later in the spring. By then, I will have missed the sheepshead bite (and my opportunity to do the sheepshead experiments I had planned for this year), but there should be plenty of redfish and snook to play with. It’s just as well — those punk sheepshead usually get the better of me anyway. I’ve been meaning to go try for some flounder, but it seems like things keep coming up. Darn obligations, getting in the way of my fun.