There are many great things about fishing, but the greatest is creating memories with people I love. It’s not even bass fishing, it’s fishing in general.
This year my dad is fishing the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Central Opens as a co-angler, which means we are traveling and pre-fishing together. This week we are on the Red River in Shreveport, La. After spending a day on the water with him, it reminds me how lucky I am to have spent so much time fishing with him over the years. Memories of our days in a boat together will be with me as long as I live.
We could sit around for days telling fishing stories and never tell the same story twice. Funny as it is, sometimes the worst days of fishing make for the best stories. However, we’ve got some great stories of good days on the water as well. It really doesn’t matter what the story is. What matters is that we have it to tell about our time together on the water.
It goes the other way as well. I hope that the time I spend fishing with Mason and Makayla will fill them with a lifetime of memories. I know they love it, but so do I. These days, they are self sufficient. They tie their own knots, land and release their own fish and untangle their own messes. Heck, Mason even ties his own flies! It’s hard to admit that I miss the old days where I had to do a lot of that for them, but I do. Still, it makes me proud and brings a smile every time I see them tying a new knot or landing and releasing a fish.
There are so many people I have enjoyed fishing with — from old club members to my Uncle Larry. All of them helped teach me what I know about fishing today. I still learn every time I go fishing with someone, whether it’s a new technique, a new knot or some new lure. More than anything, though, I re-learn that fishing is a blast and sometimes I need to just stop, take a breath and enjoy it.
If you haven’t yet, take someone you love fishing and create some memories. It’s sad but true that there’s no guarantee that the people we love will always be around to enjoy, but our memories will be.
