Happy Fathers Day To All Dad’s

Reflections

Quite some time ago when I was a child, I heard my grand dad packing his fishing gear early in the morning. I would rise with him and sit eating Captain Crunch at the kitchen table before he left. “Grandpa, where are you going today I’d say inquisitively”? “I am going trout fishing Michael; I am heading to the river today”. Grandpa would sometimes go fishing with his friends and sometimes he would go alone. “Grandpa, can I go fishing with you”. I was excited at the thought I might be the one who catches those trout. “Sure you can go Michael, fishing is not just for grown ups it’s for kids as well. Get your rod and tackle box ready and put it by the back door”. I ran into my bedroom where I stored my rod and tackle box in the small closet and retrieved my gear. I was ecstatic grandpa let me go fishing with him.

Back in those days before we drove off, we would dig for worms in the flower bed that ran along our back yard fence, or we would stop in at the tackle shop and by some maggots to use for bait. Watering the flower bed to make the worms come to the top of the soil, we gathered up a tub of worms to feed those trout. Grandpa would let me poke the holes in the top of the plastic container we used to hold the bait. We would then drive to the river and string up our fishing line together. The set up consisted of a weight on the bottom of the line and some worms latched onto some snelled hooks tied one and two feet up the line. Grandpa and I would cast our rig out and let the weight bounce on the river bed hoping for a trout to smell our worms and hit. Sometimes we would catch fish and sometimes we did not, I really did not care.

It was time well spent with my grandpa; we bonded and became closer as a result of our fishing adventures. Grandpa taught me respect for the land we fished on. He taught me to ask land owner if we could walk across their property to the river if it was private land. We would pack any garbage out that we brought in. Grandpa was in the Canadian Navy so he had deep respect for the water and all the creatures that lived in it.  Most of all grandpa taught me life’s lesions by the river bank. My grandpa was like my dad! My father moved away to Ontario when I was five so grandpa was my father figure.

With father’s day coming this Sunday, I send out gratitude for all dads who introduce their children to the great outdoors. To all the grandfathers who teach their grand kids the love of nature and the creatures that live in the water, I salute you. The love that is shared when we cast a lure, or fly into unknown water hoping for a glimpse of a fish. The great admiration in a child’s eyes when he or she lands their first fish! When we see our kids grow up and carry on our love of sport fishing and pass it on to their children. That is what brings a big smile to my face and warms my heart.

This father’s day let us share our love for the outdoors with our children. Take them fishing and bond with them beside the river or lake. Teach them how to have fun fishing for whatever that lake or river has to offer. Let’s make it the best father’s day we have ever experienced!

Happy Fathers day friends.