Instead of mining, I decided to get some fishing in. After blowing up my quarry with a few cherry bombs, I picked my potato, watered my crops, and headed up to the mountain, with a few gifts for the Junimos.
At the community center, I donated 99 stone, a cave carrot, an eel, and the potato.
After fishing at the Mountain Lake for a bit, I hit fishing level 5, so I went back down through town to donate my lower-quality stuff, as well as snag a Sunfish and give Caroline a daffodil.
I got 3 Magma Geodes from a treasure chest, which meant 3 more items for the museum.
Truly, I am a paragon of academia.
I sold off some of my cheaper fish to Willy and picked up the fiberglass rod, leaving myself with 24 gold. This way, I could fish at the mountain until I passed out with no real consequences.
I grabbed a Sardine and a Clam from the beach, and a Sunfish from the river, and dumped them both in the Center.
I fished until 2 am, eating algae and carp to keep up my energy, and then passed out and chose the Fisher profession.
Tomorrow, I'll be able to sell all my fish for, most likely, more than that rod cost!