fishing with dad

[spoonfed]

 i know there is some younger fishermen on this site and i hope that after reading this you will spend alittle more time with your dad on the ice.i took my dad to one of my favorite little lakes to do some gillin today.had a great day catching fish and just shooting the bull.came home with 25 or so gills and a couple of crappie.
 you see my father was givien 2-3 yrs to live last winter.he has whats called (copd) and he can no longer do many of the things we used to do together.cant breath.today was good we walk alittle then rested.but as i sat there i started to think of all those times in my teens and older when asked by him to go fishing i'd say no dont have the time.now i really dont have the time because of his illness.i guess what i'm saying is dont ever expect them to always be there and make time for your dad as you never can make up for lost time.i wish i had 100 more years of today, fishing with my dad.my dad is 56.

[esox slayer]

Pretty awesome you got out with your Dad ..My dad is 77 and doesn't have the ability to take the cold any more either...so ice fishing is out for him...he always was the first on the ice and last off in his younger days.....he and I were always out there..now I wish I could get him out with me just one more day....

We missed a lot of days fishing together as I got older...first i was gone in the Marines...then career took me to other states.....so it's been awhile.....I know exactly how you feel....enjoy every day he's here...I know I do......Esox

[skulldugary]

Spoonfed,I know exactly what you mean,The last time my dad and I got to fish together was in Tennessee for crappies a couple of years ago.He was diagnost with stomach cancer and had half of his stomach,gall bladder and part of his liver removed and can no longer fish but we still talk of the good trips and fun we had.So if any of you guys have a chance to fish with your dad you had better jump at the oppritunity to do so.

[OTIS]

My father has been gone for over ten years, and aside from the memories of the time I spend with my children, the memories of the times I spent fishing with my father still seem as if it was yesterday.

[fishnut]

The last time me and my dad went fishing together was about 8 years ago.  My dad was never really that interested in fishing, even though he introduced me to it.  But then again, we do other things that we enjoy like going to hockey games and what not.  I think it's time I drag his sorry az out again for another fishing trip.   

[gair-z]

great posts fellas..  Dad (67) and I (37) go all the time together.  as much as our calendar will allow anyhow.  He'll follow me out across the ice for 3/4 mile and all he says is "I'll drill your holes.  start getting ready." !!  He's in amazing shape - hand splits 80-100 cord of firewood each year and is always doing something..  and not one time have I asked him if he wanted to go fishing has he turned me down.  I am blessed to have him as a fishing partner.
gair-z 

[1TIGGER]

Great post guy's but....Don't forget the most important thing ...Tell him how you feel ..you know the   L  word  .
Yes thats rite tell him you love him because you never know if there is going to be a next time .

I try and make it a point to tell my family every time we go different ways or get done on the phone .

[scottly0]

My father never took me fishing.  I learned on my own.  However, I am trying to give my children these precious memories although they are first generation.

[hali-man]

I didn't get my dad out on the ice his season, but fishing is really the only thing we have in common. We go out in the boat all the time and have a great time together.
It runs in the blood...

[4cator]

Often times I consider my father my best fishing companion. Hes almost 70 and gets out there with my on almost every trip. Still in fairly good shape for an old fart. Got him hooked on ice fishing about 12 yrs ago. Jigging up some fabulous Brown trout in central wyoming. Now we snomobubble in 15 miles to hit some mountain lakes. Will be doing again this weekend. I plan on enjoying him as much as I can while I still have him, cause of course. We don't know what tomorrow will bring us.

Tight lines all 

[Medic12]

Spoonfed my heart goes out to you! I too have a father int he same shape as yours!

We usually get out at least once sometimes twice a winter for some good old ice fishing. Of course this winter we didn't have alot of ice, but we did get out twice. I pulled him on my Rover sled across the ice so he could fish. My son goes with me all the time, so there was three generations on the ice.

Pretty special times those are! Thanks for the post!

Jeff

[adkRoy]

My dad just turned 60. He is my best fishing and hunting partner. He is starting to slow down a little I've noticed but that just makes me cherish more all the time we spend together. He is the best darn role model a kid could ever want.

Spoonfed, my prayers are with you. As an E.M.T. I've seen what COPD can do to a person. I am glad you are getting to spend such great quality time with your father. I see too many of my students who have absolutely no respect for their parents.

[JerryofWNY]

Spoonfed, My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your dad. Guess it's human nature that we need reminders like this to put things in perspective. Both my parents have been gone for a long time now - of course I'm no kid. Now I get to fish with my sons occasionally but not as much as we all would like because of life's demands. My mission is to create good memories for the grandkids so I spend as much time as I can with them on and off the ice/water.

[YR bender]

Spoonfed, I am glad you are taking the time to do the important things. I lost my father unexpectedly in 1987, but he taught me to love fishing. I don't remember a time not fishing with him. It is a great heritage and i am thankful for all the memories. Great reading from all of you.

[OTIS]

Great post guy's but....Don't forget the most important thing ...Tell him how you feel ..you know the   L  word  .
Yes thats rite tell him you love him because you never know if there is going to be a next time .

I try and make it a point to tell my family every time we go different ways or get done on the phone .

I gotta say that's something I wish I'd of done more often.

It's a different kind of thing going from a son to a father.  As a son you hear "I love you" and just seem to automatically answer it back.  But until you've had kids of you're own you don't really know what was behind what your father was saying.  My kids are probably sick and tired of hearing me say it, but one day they too will understand.

[Robb]

You guys are very very lucky to hunt and fish with your dad's!! Mine never really hunted or fished that much, luckily my older brothers got me into the outdoors and now I take my son with me hunting and fishing, I hope him and I can do it till he has kids and we can take them .

Robb

[nepa old man]

Wish my dad was still alive, my 8 yr old daughter was out for the first time this year & loves it.

[Poppy]

I know where you everyone is coming from.  Lost my Dad, hunting & fishing partner and best friend almost ten years ago.  He taught me how great things like ice fishing really are.  To this day I carry my Dad's last hunting & fishing license with me everytime I'm out doing those things he taught me about.  It helps alot.

[Left Handed Model]

I never fished with my dad.  But my gramps is another thing,  he taught me what I know about the woods and fishing, kinda my pseudo dad.   We used to work together and have fun together, he taught me what it was to be a man.  He is getting up there in age and I definately plan to make some time in the near future to take him out to pay him back for all the memories that I have.   I can't wait to pass on the knowledge and tradition of fishing, my grandfather gave to me....    Cherish those you have while you still have them...

[OTIS]

My father used to make sure I spent time with my grandfather.  About every other Saturday gramps and I would take off trout fishing.  No place was too far, some places I'd love to know where we were.  As gramp got into his 80's we drive more than we'd fish.  I'd pick up a few ice teas, dark chocolate candy bars, and a few other things he wasn't supposed to have for our trip.  Sometimes we'd stop at place in the middle of nowhere for breakfast or lunch.  He always new where we were going, one day we put 340 miles on the truck!  Back then I didn't always want to go, but dad used to nudge me to.  What I wouldn't give for another ride with gramps.

[rabidsponge]

my dad(53) and I(29) are lucky enough to spend a lot of time with eachother fishing. whats great too is that most of the friends i fish with dont get go out with their fathers a lot so they come with mine and I. He loves hanging around with us younger "rookies" as he calls us! lol showing us diferent things. I wouldnt give up those times for anything

[bergal1]

Pop worked 6 days a week, 13 hours per day.  On Sundays he always took his boys fishing.  We had loads of fun.  Today we look at pictures of years past and laugh.  Pop is now 90 and barely has his wits about him.  He was one heck of a fisherman.  I still picture him in a boat with a pole in one hand, a sandwich in the other hand, a beer next to him on the seat and singing his old favorite sings.  Thanks Pop.

[BIGFISH]

there nothing like fishing with your dad because he is your best friendat least in my acount my DAD has been gone 24  :-[years i was 20 he was  54 we fish the hard water and soft  my advice  is fish with your DAD and spend as much time as you can with him because you never know    BIGFISH     CATCH A BIG ONE

[Skipper]

My four year old son is my best fishin buddy. I bet we got out 15 times this winter, just him and I. Ive got a 15 month old son also, and his time is coming fast. My dad is a stick in the mud. I wish I could get him out there too.

[Skipper]

just got off the phone, he cant go tomorow either. He is retired, for petes sake!

[NAD42]

I can relate to the posting about one's dad never taking you fishing. We had two trout ponds and my dad did 'allow' me to fish one once(oh,to have them ponds today...giant brookies and 'bows)I can only remember 1 time that my dad actually took me fishing elsewhere. That was to South Bay on Champlain and all he did was b***h all day for one reason or the other. I can honestly recall his comment to me when I said he had a carp on his line: he says "how the hell do you know it's a carp when you haven't seen the friggin thing"....well it turned out that it was a catfish, and the next fish(which I said was a catfish), was a sheephead...so to this day, I'll never 'guess' what is on the other end til I see it(unless I'm on the KING....nevermind). He did drive me to places to fish, drop me off, pick me up,etc; One time he drove me and a buddy to 'toga for an afternoon on the ice...dropped us off at my uncle's camp(near Mangino's) around noon...It had to be the coldest day of the winter and we lasted about a 1/2 hour...you know, the days with grandpa's ice bar and scoop that are 'priceless'...green rubber boots, brown gloves, etc; I wish I knew what dad's reaction was, when I called home asking for him to turn around and pick up his frozen son and buddy........sure, it wouldve been nice to get out on the water/ice with my 'ol man' more than once when I was a kid, but, I'm ok with it... we still get along   ....on another note: I was never denied to head down to the 'crick' and bring back some tasty native brookies for dinner, never. Give your ol' man a hug the next time you see him, and tell him thanks for taking you fishing....even if it was, only once.

 

[billditrite]

well i just got back from the carappie shack and my Dad was my guset for the evening. at 72 he doesnt walk as fast as he used to and he gets cold a little easier but he had a ball just the same!! he learned how to use a vex and was all excited like a youngster on the way home!!! we filled a 5 gallon bucket with crappie together!! hes still got it 

[Waubay Fisher]

Sorry to hear about your dad's situation Spoonfed, it's good to hear you're making the best of it though - and spending time with your dad fishing is something that cannot be replaced by anything...

I'm fortunate enough that my dad is in good health and in his early 50's.  We spend lots of time on the open water  and I just started getting him on the ice these last two seasons... he's not one for cold, but goes out when it's not too bad of conditions.  Hopefully lots of years left to spend time w/ dad for me.

[winchester 88]

In 4 days it will be 6 years since my dad passed away at the age of 93 and I miss him a lot.
 He was the one who got me interested in fishing when I was about 4 years old.
He took me to a stream and we fished together and the first fish that I caught was a chub minnow which I insisted on keeping and took home to proudly show my mom .
I made my dad clean it for me so she could fry it and I ate it.
 I got a lesson in elder respect from him later when I was arguing with him in front of his friends while we were fishing together and he gave me a "back hander" in the mouth. Back then we were taught to be seen and not heard.
 We used to go all nite carp fishing on the weekends and catfishing in the river with his buddy Hap Zinkhan.
 He took me to Canada with him in 1949 and while fishing with him in a boat and not paying attention to what I was doing, I buried the back treble hook on a plug in his face just over his eye and we had to go an hour up river to a doctor who was in a fish camp and he cut the hook out with a razor blade and sewed dad up with a needle and thread. I bawled!
 Later in the trip he showed me a big smallmouth among some rocks which I caught on a 6" brook trout we had caught while seining a creek for minnows. It was 22" long and he had it mounted for me when we got home.
 Over the years we hunted rabbits with his favorite Beagle named Rock, raised and flew racing pigeons, hunted deer out of 7 Mile Hunting Camp ( it was 7 miles to the nearest beer garden),worked at the electrical trade together and shared many good times together. We never got to go ice fishing though as he was too old and feeble to go when I got the "bug".
 One night when he was 90 mom called at 12:30 and said that he had disappeared from the house and we set out to find him .
 The firemen found him sitting along the edge of the road about 1/2 mile from home.
He was cold and in shock from falling over a hillside and didn't know where he was .
 His health faded and I had to put him in a care home which broke my heart.
 After being operated on for a bleeding ulcer and not being able to get off of the respirator we knew he wasn't going to make it and my heart was broken because I hadn't been able to see him before they took into the operating room and tell him that I loved him.
 When I went to see him one afternoon he was sitting up in bed and looked at me when I came into the room . He said "Hi son." and I said "I love you Dad". "I love you too son."The last words that I heard him speak to me.
 God is good and I'm so proud to be called Gayle's son...
 Winchester 88

[gair-z]

wow, quite the story Winchester.. damneer brought tears to my eyes.  after reading that and the rest of these posts, I think I'll tell my dad I love him tomorrow.  I don't ever recollect him ever telling me he's loved me and I don't think I've ever told him that I loved him.. maybe it's time.. wow.
great posts all.  my cousin once told me that he never got a chance to tell his dad that he loved him and he'll regret it for the rest of his life.  maybe it's time.  it's time.

gair-z