The 4-year-old boy who made his Dad take him fishing

[AL WORRELLS KID]

The story of the 4-year-old boy who made his dad take him fishing
By DAVE ORRICK | dorrick@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: June 15, 2019

Fathers are supposed to take their kids fishing.

The boy knew this, even though the father didn’t.

So when he was 4, the boy started begging his dad to take him fishing.

The father loved the water, but he wasn’t a fisherman. When he was his son’s age, fishing felt cruel, a tangle of line, lost fish and frustration.
But the boy, for reasons unknown, kept asking.

Eventually, the father agreed. He bought a Zebco 202 rod and reel from the hardware store, dug up some worms from the garden and took the boy to the river.

He didn’t expect to catch anything. He only hoped his boy wouldn’t be too disappointed. This fishing notion, he figured, would pass.

The opposite happened. The boy caught a foot-long bass within seconds of his line hitting the water. He paraded the fish, creeled on a length of rope, around the neighborhood.

And he never stopped fishing.

For years, his father’s presence was required, to bait the hook or untangle the line or take apart the reel to see what was wrong inside.
So they fished together. For years. The boy almost always caught more, and by junior high, the son was teaching the father techniques that he learned from books and magazines, like how to twitch a Rapala through weeds or how to cast a fly. When the boy grew up, he would bait the hooks for the old man, and untangle the lines, and land the fish.
They fished a lifetime together.

And that’s the story of the son who taught his father how to fish. But it was possible only because the father took the son fishing that first time.

It’s a true story, and I’m that son.

This spring, as the lakes were thawing, I thanked my dad for taking me fishing that first time, and all the times after. That was when I said goodbye to him, as an advancing neurological disorder made it clear that not only would we never fish together again, but that his time was short. He died May 11, Minnesota’s fishing opener.

He was 83. That’s old enough to have fished plenty with his only son. Except … a father and son can never fish enough together.

Next Father’s Day weekend will be a time many of us remember our fishing fathers who are gone, who no longer cast lines in these waters. This will be the first year I’ll be joining that Club, as we wrap up our annual trip to Hayward, Wis.

I’ll be fishing with my son, who’s just a little older than I was when I first fished with my dad. Hopefully, we’ll catch a bunch. Hopefully, I’ll hold it together when he says he wishes Grandpa Nick was in the boat with us, or when we scatter some of his ashes in the water in front of Sugarbush, the spot where he caught his only Muskie.

Either way, we’ll be fishing.

You should take your kid, too.

Fathers are supposed to take their kids fishing.

[AL WORRELLS KID]

(I was blessed with a Dad that started me out Fishing at about the same age as Dave was.)

In the Diary of Brook Adams is a note about a special day when he was eight years old. He wrote, “Went fishing with my Father; the most glorious day of my life,” and through the next 40 years there were constant references to that day and the influence it had on his life. Brooks’ father was Charles Francis Adams, Abraham Lincoln’s ambassador to Great Britain. He also had a note in his diary about the same day. It simply said, “Went fishing with my Son: a day wasted.” What the Father counted as a wasted day, the Son thought was one of the greatest days of his childhood.
 (Never underestimate the power of a day, "Out Fishing Together." 

[7mmfan]

 

[AL WORRELLS KID]

(Dad would always tell everyone that I had caught them all.) 

[hunt6226]

Awesome post.
Brings back all the early trips with my father.

[LDennis24]

Thanks for this! 

[pianoman9701]

Lovely story. You're indeed a fortunate man.

[trophyhunt]

Wow, very touching. Feel good story of the week, thanks.

[elkboy]

Thank you for sharing.  That is a beautiful story.

[Norman89]

This hits home hard, my dad just came out of a coma Saturday and will be home soon, he talked today about wanting to go for smelt which I have never done before. Also hits home with my young boys always asking to go fishing when I have to go to work. Looking forward to fishing for new reasons now

[Alchase]

Cool bit of History!

I can remember my dad saying "Keep your tip up!" thousands of times. First time taking my son salmon fishing out of Sekiu, the minute we cleared the breakwater and I handed him his pole, I said "Keep your tip up!"

Oh God, I turned into my Dad!

 

[metlhead]

Dad was a fisherman from the start. From the 5 brothers, I was the only one with an interest in the outdoors. Seem to have grown up in a homemade 16' wooden sled breathing stroker oil from that 65 Seahorse. My youngest showed an interest and has been running the waters at only months old. Now an adult, whether she chooses to continue is her choice, but has knowledge to enjoy as she desires. Maybe she will run me up the final riffle for my last cast.😊

[b0bbyg]

Thanks for the thread 
Lost dad last year, we did not fish often but he did take me deep sea fishing out of San Diego ( mom laid up front an puked ) and several trips into the desert lakes for Big mouth bass.  Most memorable trip was when the truck broke down and he jerry rigged the throttle with fishing line to get back home, he could fix about anything.

Son never took hard to fishing but we did have one trip with all three generations plus my Brother in law in a questionable boat catching halibut in AK.

Great memories to remember, now I have a grandson. I cannot wait until he is old enough to walk through the woods or go to a lake.