As a kid I learned to love fishing because of my father. In this post I will show a side of me that I seldom show, but its memories and stories that shaped the person that I am today.
My Dad was a pretty good fisherman. But, I think he only knew about two knots, the granny and the super granny knot. He also only believed in using worms, salmon eggs and cheese. Most of you around my age will recall that Utah used to have an open season to fish. The season would open around Memorial Day weekend and my dad would load up the gear with my brother and I and by 0400 we were off. He would always take us to Soldier Creek Reservoir and the fishing was more like combat fishing than actual fishing. Imagine 10 guys trying to fish the same area, elbow to elbow. This is probably the reason I like fishing from a boat, don't like the company, start the motor and leave. That and I do not like packing all my gear around. On these early days lines would get crossed and tempers would flare, that's even before a fish was caught, let alone the tangles that would occur when someone caught a fish. My dad loved using Velveeta cheese, he would also put on a very large treble hook, one that was capable of pulling in a very large Tuna and he would use 10 pound monofilament line, usually the cheapest he could find, changing it only every ten years, but only if it really needed it. This was back in the day when the water filled bubble was the only weight to use. Dad would fill the bubble, place a quarter pound of the cheese on a Tuna hook, and cast it as far as he could. I would ask him why do you use such a big hook, he would always say "cant hunt bear with a BB gun".
Over the years fishing with my Dad, I got to know him very well, I don't think it was the catching of the fish he enjoyed as much as it was just being in the outdoors with his boys. That and falling asleep at the drop of a hat, he sure loved his naps. My dad used to play tricks on my brother Danny and I every trip, tricks that were so well played it took us years to catch on. What he would do was, get us to compete, he would say, "Hey boys, lets see who can clean the fish the fastest. I will time you guys, and he would do that to us over and over again. It took us years to catch on to the fact he never once cleaned a fish. Don't get me started on deer and elk.
After getting out of the Army, Dad and I would go fishing on my days off. I bought my first boat for $500 and the motor always needed to be retuned. I didn't know jack about carburetors at that time and neither did my dad, he would just say, I will find a tool, and would disappear for an hour or so, coming back with a crescent wrench. By that time I would have the motor running well enough to go to the lake and try it. Over the years Danny and I would take advantage of Dad by sending him out for one tool or another just to keep him out of our hair when we were doing stuff, you may think it was mean, but Mom would even laugh about us sending him for one tool or another. Whenever we planned a fishing trip, dad would have us all in the yard in the middle of the night chasing night crawlers, hell he even got the neighbors involved. Our next door neighbor had a large vegetable garden and he would tell us to come over and catch as many as we wanted, he would even water his garden before we went to get the worms coming to the surface. Now if you have never chased night crawlers at night, it is a lot of fun. You have to have a flashlight and you look for the worms, but you cant hold the light directly on the worms or they will disappear into the ground, you also cant make a lot of noise, you have to be stealthy. My dad was the best at catching them.
Dad loved to anchor the boat and just sit and fish, but with dad it was either eat or sleep, there were many a times he would fall asleep while holding his pole, so boys being boys we would get the line from his pole and jerk on it several times. His reaction and him trying to set the hook was always priceless, and speaking of setting the hook, my dad went to the extreme on this. I think that's the reason for such heavy line, when most of the trout we caught never got close to one pound. Danny and I used to always comment on his hook setting savvy by stating things like, I bet all you have left of that fish is the head, or my hell dad bet that fish is inside out.
Dads tackle box was always full of lures that he would never use and flies he had no idea how to use or why he had them. He would look at Danny's or my tackle box and always accuse us of taking his stuff, but we would just laugh and say there is nothing we want in there. The funniest thing my dad kept in his tackle box, besides the knife he never used, because he never cleaned a fish, was the bar of soap. He hated the smell of fish so bad he had to have soap. The man loved eating fish, but hated how they smelled, kind of a contradiction if you ask me.
As dad got older he started to have me set up his poles, and help him with gear, My boat had been upgraded and the motor was more reliable, we would go to Strawberry, Deer creek and even a trip to Lake Powell and then to Otter creek. We spent time on Scofield, and Pineview as well, and he loved catching walleye on Yuba. One trip in particular comes to mind, we spent the entire morning catching a limit of walleye. I didn't have a live well so I used a fishing basket tied to the side of the boat. We had just caught our limit and dad suggested we go to a spot on the lake that held perch, so I put the gear away and told dad to get the basket, and then I started the boat and we took off for the perch spot. But as we were arriving, I noted a rope moving around where the basket was tied, I immediately stopped the boat and asked, "Where is the basket?". Dad's eyes widened and he said Oops! Well the basket was empty, but instead of the angry or upset dad I expected, he just said, "Hell lets go catch another limit".
One time at Strawberry dad and I were using a slip float and a night crawler harness in the Renegade area where the stream comes in. It was early spring and the Rainbows were feeding pretty good. I had just cast into the wind and was letting the slip float ride the wind through the water, when I got a solid hit. I reeled in and set the hook, and my drag started squealing, I would gain some line back onto the spool and the trout would tear it off again. After about 20 minutes, I was able to get it close to the boat. It was a very large rainbow, and my dad not being the best netter, would only yell, "It wont fit in the net", and I said, "Hell dad, don't have a choice, net it". He would try to net it and then would again exclaim it wont fit in the net, so I asked him, "should I just head in for a bigger net?". After a few cuss words and a dirty look and a few more attempts he was able to net it. It turned out to be a 10.5 pound rainbow, the biggest I have ever caught at Strawberry. That was an awesome thing to share with my dad.
My Father passed away a few years ago, and I miss and talk to him every day. He became the best fishing partner a guy could ever ask for. He was patient, caring and always fun, someone that I try to emulate as I get older. He was my best friend and the best dad anyone could ask for. Thanks Dad for giving me this love of fishing!
God bless and good fishing.
No comments:
Post a Comment