Fishing With Dad

My father was a fishing fanatic. Around the age of 11 or 12, I was, by default, his partner. I say “default”, because all of my 8 siblings, of which, 6 were girls, became invisible and dodged the privilege of fishing with Dad on Saturday mornings.

Dad needed a partner. I was no good at “invisibility”.

We got up around 4 A.M. and drove for what usually felt like forever, to one of the many Wisconsin lakes. Fishing consisted of sitting for hours in a row boat on a metal boat seat holding a cane pole trolling for crappie. You, the readers, most likely, cannot relate to this scenario. In the world of today’s fishing techniques, the way we fished was “Pre-historic” — and so boring!

The experience would have been almost bearable had we caught fish. We seldom caught fish. After a couple of years, of this, circa 1956, I cannot recall ever again fishing with Dad.

My next fishing experience began exactly 30 years later where my career had taken me to Kansas City. Our home sat in a development with a small lake which had been stocked with fresh water game fish. The lake was a 3 minute walk from my back door. No 4 A.M., no driving.

To my delight, the fish were very accommodating. Fishing is only fun if the fish cooperate. My childhood memory lacked just one critical ingredient ….. fish!

After 4 yrs. in K.C., my career took me back to Wisconsin where we bought a home on a lake. By then, I had become a fishing fanatic with the skills to make fishing much more productive and fun. If you’ve never heard of “muskie”, look it up. You’ll find it interesting.

Today, I don’t fish at all. The heat in North Carolina makes it unbearable and the only place to fish reasonably close to our current home, based on a full season’s personal experience, contains no fish.

What was formerly fishing time is now spent writing. It took me 15 years to become a skilled, productive fisherman. This blog site is 3 years and 9 months old.

Let’s not do the math!