Fishing with Dad

So some things do change as you age. When I was little, my Dad took me fishing with him a few times. I remember using a bobber, hook and night crawler and that was it. I don't think his tackle box was stocked very well back then, and so we would go and fish, rain or shine and not ever catch a thing! I had decided back then, fishing stunk!

I moved downstate and became friends with several coworkers and was included in the annual bass tournament. I caught my first fish down there and while I didn't have a trophy bass, I caught about three each year. Paul and I fished with some friends down there occassionally and it fast became something that I really enjoyed.

Since moving back to the U.P., for mostly time and financial reasons, I've only bought one license in seven years. Until yesterday. My Dad called me up and asked me to go to his favorite fishing lake and also the setting for the "guys" big fishing weekend next weekend. He said we'd leave about 3 and that Joy could watch the kids till Paul got off work. This lake is a good hour away so I already knew it would be a late night. I got to his house all ready to go, he had some things to finish up and we left about 4:30 I think. He also thought 3:00 would be too early and long to sit in the canoe. He said, you know, we'll be there till dark? Okay, I was a little concerned that if we didn't get any bites, it could be a long night. I like fishing, but loose interest if there's no sign of life in the waters, but figured we would have fun canoeing around anyway. Well, well, well, my dad has learned a thing or two about fishing since I last went with him. It was such a blast! There were tons of fish, he had all kinds of tricks and bait tactics to try, and I was bummed when it got dark. The lake was gigantic, but calm like glass. Dad knew about all the "hot" spots where the fish hang out at different times during the evening. With all the bites we had, I only caught two small pike, he caught a small bass and small pike so we didn't go home with any fish to eat, but it will be one of my favorite memories forever. Little did he know, I was just thrilled to hang out with my Dad!