Like Father Like Son...Like Son

   Last Spring I got to do two things I've wanted to do for sometime now: fish for trout and fish with my Pap. I'm not alone and can say my Dad was equally excited. But that was in the Spring and now the local trout are slim, so we had to find another place to take our adventures. On a beautiful Fall day, three generations of Hawrots hopped into a small fishing boat and headed out to hunt some bass.

   Normally, I could care less about the number of fish I catch. If I get a few, than that's an enjoyable evening. But tonight was different. It wasn't that I had to show anyone up but it was more of showing the person who taught me to fish and the person who taught him to fish that I have learned from them and have grown into a decent fisherman. Admittedly, I have recently fished this pond many times and believed I had an edge on them that night.

   My Dad started quickly, catching numerous bass off his mastered hula popper.

I thought no big deal, I'll catch up quick. That's when I caught my first bass. A small lil one but nonetheless a fish. Shortly after, my Pap caught his first fish.

And then my Pap caught his second fish. And then my Dad caught his third fish. And then somewhere in the mix my lures became irrelevant to the fish. I was no more than the boat captain at that point watching my more experienced shipmates catch fish on the same type of lure I was using. At one point, the boat became stuck on the top of an underwater tree. I thought about going down with the boat but persistence told me to move on and be patient, my fish will come. Well, they never came...for me. My Pap and Dad continued to catch them well into the end of the trip.

  
     Now the sun was set and darkness was showering the country pond; it was time to head home. Ya, I didn't catch really anything but it was an amazing night out with my family. Being confined to a boat, every time someone reels one in, you stop fishing and feel like you're catching it with them. It was actually fitting the way the night progressed. I wasn't keeping exact count but I'd say my Pap caught the biggest fish, my Dad caught the most fish, and I caught the least. And that's exactly how it should be. A progression of fisherman should always get better with more age and experience, especially through many generations.  I guess what I really learned was that I need to start having kids. Then we'll really see who's on the bottom of the totem pole.