Fishing Buddies

This week let’s talk about fishing buddies. The one I learn the most from is my Dad and he usually fishes with me at least once a week.  I called him last week and set up to go fishing on Thursday morning.  When Thursday rolled around it was time to show the old man who the better fisherman was.  I usually call him around 5:45-6:15am to make sure he will be at the lake but this time I figured if he overslept he deserved it, he is in his 60s.  I left work and headed to the lake and as I pull up what do I see, my dad. I was shocked that he was already there and fishing. We are talking about a guy who doesn’t like to get out of bed before 10am. 

     I grabbed my stuff and headed down to the lake to join him. When I walked up he asked if we were going to start in the corner like we normally do. I love how we have developed a routine for that lake.  We start in one spot and work our way left. Most mornings when dad and I fish together I have the pleasure of catching at least one if not two more than him.  That was not the case this week.

     The water was a little cooler so I started with my Culprit Rad Shad worm. My Dad just happens to be using the same exact bait standing about 10 feet to my right.  The lake in parts has lots of downed trees in the water but that’s where the fish like to hide so we fish around it and lose A LOT of lures, worms, and hooks. We had only been fishing for about 10 minutes when I got my first fish and that’s a good start if you ask me.  I released the bass and sent him on his way.  I reset my hook and as soon as I am about to throw my line back in BAM!!! Dad catches one. It looks like it’s going to be a good day.  Another 5 minutes pass and Dads got another one on the line.  He is brimming with all kind of happiness.   A few minutes later I get another one too.  We had four fish between the two of us in about 20 minutes!  At that point we have a little lull and a good 20 minutes went by before either one of us caught a fish again. Guess who caught the next one, dad.

     We were standing there talking about his time as a tournament angler and about different lures and just fishing in general when all of a sudden he gets another one.  Now for those of you that are counting that’s 4 for my Dad and 2 for me and we had only been there for 45 minutes at that point. Then dad caught another 2 fish in the following 15 minutes after that. Considering how he had smoked me on fishing that day I was trying to figure out what he is doing that I was not. We were using the exact same bait just different rods and reels.

     We continued fishing the area for a while longer with neither one of us catching a fish so we moved along the lake. After fishing for an hour along our usual route without getting another bite dad suggested we go over to the other side of the lake to an area we rarely fish. I chose a place that I know has a nice drop off and there is some trees underwater and my dad picked a spot next to a floating dock.  We started fishing and first cast I got a bite but didn’t catch him.  I will tell you that the fish that my father and I had been catching all bite very lightly and were not being aggressive at all.  I casted out a few more times and got another bite or two but still didn’t catch one.

     That about when Dad says “Yep, got another one.”  At this point I am not a happy camper. Having only caught 2 when dad’s at 7! He is killing it though so I am happy for him. My Father is getting up there in age and it’s been a long morning so he decided to take a break and sit on this rock that I was fishing near.  He tells me to go to where he was fishing and see if I can catch anything over there.  I did, because at this point I would have been ok with catching a boot like in the cartoons.  He sits down and I started fishing where he was at and I am not getting any bites.  About 10 minutes goes by and the only thing that has happened was I lost my hook and worm in a tree.  Right as my line breaks my Dad starts laughing and when I look over there he is reeling in another one. So he had caught 8 fish and still only two for me.  By that time it was about 9am, I was getting hungry and Dad was starting to look tired and the last thing I want it my dad to do is to overdo it. He asks if I think I am done for the morning.  I respond with an “I think so, apparently the fish don’t like me like they do you today”   He chuckled and we started gathering our stuff and headed to the vehicles.  Fishing buddies are great whether they are kicking your butt in fishing or not and my favorite fishing buddy is my dad. Friends and family make fishing even better!

      I hope everyone has enjoyed.  As a friendly reminder while out fishing remember the old saying "leave no trace".  If you make a mess or have trash please take it with you.  The environment will thank you.  Maybe even reward you with a new personal best catch!!  Have a great day and FISH ON!!!!!