Todays blog post is a guest post from one of our USA visitors. Please contact us with your fishing stories.
Having been born and raised on a farm in the Deep South, learning to fish is definitely a rite of passage. My most recent trip involved myself, my 86 year old grandfather, who taught me to fish, and my 2 year old son, who was making his first trip. We started out at a lake that my grandparents kept stocked with catfish in the hopes that my son would be able to reel something in quickly and catch the “fishing bug.” Within a few minutes of casting our line, we felt our first tug.
My son was beyond excited until the fish hit the banks and he got his first look at a catfish flopping wildly on the ground. Within seconds his screams has disturbed the tranquil setting. Apparently, a fish that was the colour of mud and had whiskers protruding from its face was not what he had in mind. After realising he was most disturbed by the whiskers, we decided to take him down to the river, which was usually good for a few crappie and bream.
My grandfather is a firm believer in fishing with crickets and worms, so after getting set up in a shady spot, we quickly baited and cast our lines. Then, we waited and waited and waited. While my son asked thousands of questions including why the “lake fish” didn’t look like the ones he had seen at the pet store, my grandfather reminisced on fishing trips from the past. Funny how the same man who used to insist on complete silence while fishing, so as not to scare the fish away, was now laughing hardily about the number of times he skipped school in the 1930s to head to a nearby lake.
To be honest, this wasn’t our best fishing trip. We got a few nibbles, but went home empty handed. (We had thrown the catfish back in.) However, this is one of my most memorable fishing trips. Spending the day with my grandfather and young son, while taking part in an activity that had bonded my grandfather and I together for decades, was an unforgettable experience. Sometimes it’s not about how many fish you catch, but the memories you make.
o.
