Even before I became a dad I wondered if my son would like the same things I do. I wondered if we would get to spend time together doing the same things my dad did with me. I plan on writing several entries relating to my incessant ponderings about my sons future and today I want to start with my favorite hobby, fishing.
When I was a kid my dad took me fishing a few times. I still remember catching my first bass on Voss Lake. We were motoring along pretty good and I had my line in the water. I got a yank that nearly pulled me out of the boat. I was sure that I had caught one of the thousands of stumps lurking just below the surface but it was a small bass instead. Somewhere at my mom's house there is a picture of a gap toothed kid holding up that fish and smiling. Even with this success I never really liked fishing. My Dad was a bass fisherman rather than a crappie fisherman like seemingly everyone else I knew. Bass fishing takes patience which has never been one of my strong suits especially as a child. You may fish all day just to catch one fish and this just seemed boring to me.
Since I graduated college I have been living in a town with 3 big lakes. After a few years I had all I could stand of watching people on the water so I bought a small 16' aluminum bass boat. It has a 50 hp Mercury motor that will skim me across the water at about 35 mph. It is a great boat for a guy just learning how to fish. Now I mentioned that my dad bass fished but he never fished in clear water lakes like I was attempting now. I had to start from the beginning. After a couple of years of limited success I was invited to go fishing with my father-in-law. Since then we have become fishing buddies and he has taught me a lot. He even invited me to fish in a tournament once last year and we made $280. I love bass fishing.
This brings me to my question. Will my son like bass fishing with me? I cannot wait for the day that I can replace my two dogs with a new fishing partner, my son. There would be nothing like teaching him how to fish while sharing time outdoors. I love to be out there on the water enjoying the outdoors whether I catch a lot of fish or not. Don't get me wrong the point is to catch fish and the more the better, but I think time outdoors between father and son is a great thing no matter what. I may not have fished much as a kid but I did spend time on the farm and hunting with my dad. Those are some of my very best memories of my childhood. I think that fishing offers my son and I that kind of opportunity to bond and share memories for a life time. I sure hope he will have fun when I finally get to take him out on the lake. I am already devising a back up plan that includes worms and much easier to catch bream. I will make whatever adjustments I need to make so he has fun. After all that is what being a dad is all about.
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