ROCKWALL,TX. (June 27, 2014) Dad shook me at 5am but I was already up; sleep being no match for excitement. I was pretty young, around six, when we went fishing, real fishing, for the first time. Until then, wetting a hook occurred in the trout tank at the Mid-South Boating Show. I had no idea where we were going or how we’d fish; I just knew I couldn’t wait.
We rented an aluminum jon boat and trolling motor at a nearby lake and we soon puttered across the water with the lake gurgling off the bottom. Dad steered toward a cove and placed a long stick in my hands. A clear line dangled from it with a round bobber, a black ball of lead, and a gold hook. He wrapped a writhing worm on the hook and demonstrated how to swing the line: “Fish love to hide under trees, logs, stumps, not out in the middle.”
It was hard to control my rig and I wrapped it around several branches, which dad untangled, and I plopped it in the water; soon after my corked hopped. My heart mimicked it, especially when I felt the tug on the other end, “Pull it up, son!” and I lifted the bent pole; the fish fought back, darting around the boat. I gave it a yank and the bluegill (what Texans call “perch”) exploded from the water, sailing over our heads to the other side of the boat. Yanking again, it swung and slapped the side, finally wiggling at Dad’s feet. He giggled, mumbling something about killing it and then threaded it on the stringer. We caught all day and returned the next week, and the next, then we bought a boat, and our summer adventure tradition set like concrete—every Wednesday (Dad’s day off) we fished at that lake or acrossArkansas,Mississippi, and even in theMississippi Riveritself, hardly missing a day for 11 years.
Summers in Rockwall brim with activities for our kids: vacation Bible schools, sports camps, youth retreats, art classes, and select travel teams. Our kids run from training with coaches to all-weekend tournaments. We do a great job keeping our kids involved, but how much are we involved with them? We have lots of stuff we send them to, but what do we do? How about developing a regular summer tradition together, a periodic adventure that your kid longs for in the break?
It doesn’t have to be fishing; that was our thing. It could be camping, hiking, swimming, water skiing – even board games or movie nights. It doesn’t matter, really; the main formula is regularity, fun, and YOU. I played all sorts of tournaments and dad was in the stands or dugout for every inning, but those aren’t the vivid memories. Those memories are reserved for a boat in the water and a pole. But it was more than the fishing; it was time with him—summer adventures together. That is the fun I remember; hope you have a ton as well!
By Blue Ribbon News guest columnist Scott Gill of Rockwall, a teacher, coach and author of Goliath Catfish. Follow his blog at scotttgill.tumblr.com.
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