I’m 42 years old and love to bass fish. The time on the water is and has always been enjoyable and fun.
It all started when I was a young fella…I guess around 12. I fished some with friends but had my most memorable trips with an uncle and great uncle of mine.
Uncle Robert and I hit a many of lakes over the years, and he was the first person I fished a tournament with. I was way grown by that time. It was actually me that got him to go to one in my boat.
The other was (Great) Uncle Joe. He lived about an hour away and came down often to visit and would go with Robert and me fishing on almost every trip, man you talk about fun. I can hardly remember any great fish catches but oh the stories. Uncle Robert did manage get a 9-pounder on a trip after Joe had missed it once.
The fish were just a part the trip that made us each want to keep at it. One example is the time Uncle Robert nearly turned the boat over setting the hook so hard at dusky dark on an empty gallon milk jug. Yes, those kind of trips.
I must say that without those great times on the old water sheds, I’d never keep at it steady. I suppose in each tournament I’m not only after a big bag but maybe I can hook into a good memory to keep for a lifetime.
Those trips, alone with a monthly flow of Bassmaster Magazine made me want to chase a career in fishing and nothing was going to stop me. Well almost nothing…
Looks like a girl giving you the eye at 20 years old can out weight a fishing dream.
So we move forward to marriage, three kids and a divorce. We get to the recent years.
I got to fishing a little right before the new single life, but I still had no direction on what I was trying to do. Did I still have that old flame of wanting to tournament fish? Could fishing give an older me another chance at the excitement of my once loved passion?
Well here we are, nice boat, beautifully supportive new gal and a little dream still in the back of my mind. So you wonder what happened next. Well, here we go. I decided to join a local club to fish my very first “put your money out on the line” tournament.
I fished that first one all by myself and had a fair day: no money and melted one battery post off. It was awesome. I could not wait for the next scheduled tournament. And guess what? My uncle Robert agreed to fish with me for the rest of the season.
Now folks neither he nor I have ever fished against anyone other than our selves. We knew nothing about hunting five big ones, time management and the best baits at whatever water temperature. All we knew is we were fishing, we could go fast and Robert had cooked something good to eat for a mid-morning break.
We fished two years in those club tournaments together, had one near miss on a check and one third of $89 each. Still got a copy of the check.
What I did catch was my old dream, but not like I once thought. I now didn’t need to become the next Jimmy Houston or Roland Martin. I didn’t want to fish for a living, I simply needed to fish to feel alive, to know that all the years of hard work and raising and family only put me in a better position to do what I wanted to do. I now have support for my kids and my love. I have finances that allow me to fish tournaments, I can fish a Series or the Opens if I choose. It’s a part of me but not a requirement or a life driver.
I made the journey. I am a weekend fishermen!
Living the dream (like I want).