I smoked pipes and cigars for about twenty years. If you are a smoker, you know that there are certain time periods and activities that you associate with smoking. Unfortunately, fishing can be one of those activities. I always enjoyed smoking my pipe or a cigar when fishing from the front seat of my boat, relaxing after a day of fishing, or taking a break from fishing while in the boat.
Before I gave up smoking for good, I recall quitting on at least two occasions, only to relapse and take up smoking once again. I had quit for about one year and went on a weekend fishing trip with my wife to the Shellman Bluff area on Georgia’s Atlantic coast. We fished with a distant relative of my wife, fishing from an open, ski-type boat with an outboard motor. We fished various areas of Sapelo Sound for speckled trout. I cannot recall the time of year but remember that it was rather hot over the course of our fishing day. I remember that the fishing was slow even though we were fishing with shrimp and other live bait.
After the day’s fishing, I went to a small bait shop in the vicinity of Shellman Bluff. It was a small, wooden building with a covered porch with chairs in front of the building. The shop had the usual assortment of soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, snacks, smokes and other tobacco products, and bait and tackle. It was a one person operation, run by an elderly gentleman. Next to the cash register, there were Tampa Nuggets, Swisher Sweets, King Edward and other cigars. They were in open cigar boxes without plastic wraps so one could pick up and smell the cigar’s aroma.
After purchasing a drink, I went outside and sat in one of the chairs on the store’s porch, enjoying my drink. While sipping my drink, I kept thinking about the sight and aroma of those cigars in the store behind me. After a while, I impulsively went back into the store, and purchased one Swisher Sweet cigar, one of my favorite brands. I rationalized that smoking only one cigar would not start me back onto the road of addicted tobacco use. I went back outside onto the porch, sitting down to smoke the cigar and finish my drink. As I had not smoked any tobacco product for over a year, the aroma and taste of the sweet tobacco in my mouth was heavenly. I finished smoking the Swisher Sweet and purchased a second cigar to take back to our cabin in which we were staying. I smoked this second cigar later that evening on the porch of our cabin.
Unfortunately, my rationalization of smoking only one cigar did not work. Within a week of smoking this first cigar after fishing, I was back to smoking my pipe. My addiction was back with a vengeance. Like many smokers, smoking became feeding a habit rather than a source of enjoyment. I was back to smoking upon arising in the morning, smoking after every meal, taking smoke breaks during the day, smoking prior to going to bed and the other activities associated with tobacco addiction.
I was recently reminded of this story while visiting a colleague diagnosed with lung cancer who has been a lifelong cigarette smoker. Giving up smoking tobacco was one of the most difficult things that I have done in my life. My pipe and the associated paraphernalia such as tobacco pouch, humidator, pipe lighter, and assortment of real brier smoking pipes had become part of my life. It was like losing old friends after quitting my smoking habit.
I have not smoked any tobacco products for over thirty years. It took a long time to go fishing and not think about smoking. I have been able to experience the positive effects of not smoking on my health. Fortunately I can now fish from my boat and not give a second thought about smoking. However, I still have to be on guard when people offer me a smoke to not relapse and think “I will smoke only one cigar.” You know where that kind of thinking can lead.
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