Jratthelake
06-29-2009, 04:55 PM
This story was posted on http://www.bountyfishing.com/story/why-we-fish. It is a perfect example of why we should spend time with our kids on the water.
"A lot of people fish for reasons such as a simple hobby passed down from generation to generation.. a nice way to spend the day with your family or something maybe to fill a Saturday or Sunday morning with.. or simply because they like the challenge fishing brings but for me it was different, I would say my love for fishing wasn’t brought forth in such a traditional way but fishing was more something that saved me.
I have spent a lot of my life in and out of trouble.. jail here diversion there probation here, i walked a fine line and hung out with all the wrong people i had received a DUI lost my license, sold my car to pay court fee's soon after the job i barely kept was lost as well. Though i had a great family and an amazing amount of support from my family i consistently and constantly found myself taking the long rough path in life and running with the wrong people.. everything from theft to drugs to fights you name it i had a finger in it and no matter what i told myself or how hard i tried i found myself right back in the mess at a moment's notice.
I began to realize that a change was in order for me i had to do something to get out of this life that was dooming me and my future and leave it behind, i needed to burn bridges with those in my darker past and look forward to a more positive lifestyle not only for me but for the sake of my loved ones. I found myself moving away from everyone my mother my father and my little sister to a small town out in the country called Spring Hill.. i moved there with my grandparents who were much older and wiser than anyone i usually spent my time with.
My grandparents are the definition of old school very set in the ways they live and morals they have and from this i learned a lot about life and being away from all the things that kept me in trouble was allowing a change to set in me and allowing me to become the better person i thrived to be. I found myself working on a sod farm rolling sod making decent money coming home and staying out of trouble.. and though this change was good it began to become very boring to me... i found myself missing the crazy parties and crazy nights i used to love so much, I missed the adrenaline rush.
After hearing several stories my grandpa had told me about his fishing days and how nice it was to wake up early pack the tackle box ready the lures and prepare for a day out on the lake fishing i decided what the hell, id give this a try. I got in touch with my cousin who also lived out in Spring Hill and told him to get plenty of sleep because tomorrow me and him were heading down to Hillsdale lake bright and early and seeing what this fishing thing was all about.
About 6 a.m. the next morning I slammed the trunk of his car, tackle boxes packed rods set up and we were off. As we drove i watched the sun rise i heard the birds singing i could smell the morning dew and in this moment i felt more at peace with myself than any other time in my life i could recall.
We reached the lake at about 6:15 and threw out our lines (at this time we had no knowledge of lures.. lines.. reels.. gears..exct.) i believe we had each just thrown a worm out on giant catfish hooks with my grandpas old 40 year old rods and we sat and waited.. although hours went by without catching anything i found myself enjoying the morning as we laughed and talked and joked back and forth watched the morning become afternoon it was almost a soul cleansing moment for me... but as i day dreamed and looked off into the clouds i felt it, a subtle yet distinctive tug on my line.. my eyes got huge as i saw the tip of my rod gently twitching towards the calm water below me, i looked over at my cousin who's eye were just as big and in this moment an adrenaline rush I to this day cant even explain took over my body, the fight was on!
As the fish darted back and forth flying up and surfacing and exploding in and out of the water almost violently i reeled and pulled on the rod.. the fight continued a good two or three minutes and i finally wrestled the big bass fish to my feet, tired and worn down the big bass lay on his side gills gasping, i took a knee and grabbed the fish by the bottom jaw just as i had been instructed by my grandpas stories and held him up.. it was an incredibly proud moment for me as me and my cousin stood on that lake bank staring at this gorgeous fish in amazement. It was in that moment i was hooked on this sport.. before i knew it i was researching types of rods and lures and filling my mind with all the information i could possibly find on the web about these amazing fish.
Now i find myself at the lake side about 6 out of the 7 days of the week with my new lures lines and rods re living that amazing moment time after time again.. no longer did i miss the parties or the people that were steering my life down the wrong path. So in this way, fishing saved my life. To this day you can find me out at the lake tackle box and rod in hand just doing what i love. happy fishing to all and thanks for listening. gone fishin' :)"
Scott cooper
"A lot of people fish for reasons such as a simple hobby passed down from generation to generation.. a nice way to spend the day with your family or something maybe to fill a Saturday or Sunday morning with.. or simply because they like the challenge fishing brings but for me it was different, I would say my love for fishing wasn’t brought forth in such a traditional way but fishing was more something that saved me.
I have spent a lot of my life in and out of trouble.. jail here diversion there probation here, i walked a fine line and hung out with all the wrong people i had received a DUI lost my license, sold my car to pay court fee's soon after the job i barely kept was lost as well. Though i had a great family and an amazing amount of support from my family i consistently and constantly found myself taking the long rough path in life and running with the wrong people.. everything from theft to drugs to fights you name it i had a finger in it and no matter what i told myself or how hard i tried i found myself right back in the mess at a moment's notice.
I began to realize that a change was in order for me i had to do something to get out of this life that was dooming me and my future and leave it behind, i needed to burn bridges with those in my darker past and look forward to a more positive lifestyle not only for me but for the sake of my loved ones. I found myself moving away from everyone my mother my father and my little sister to a small town out in the country called Spring Hill.. i moved there with my grandparents who were much older and wiser than anyone i usually spent my time with.
My grandparents are the definition of old school very set in the ways they live and morals they have and from this i learned a lot about life and being away from all the things that kept me in trouble was allowing a change to set in me and allowing me to become the better person i thrived to be. I found myself working on a sod farm rolling sod making decent money coming home and staying out of trouble.. and though this change was good it began to become very boring to me... i found myself missing the crazy parties and crazy nights i used to love so much, I missed the adrenaline rush.
After hearing several stories my grandpa had told me about his fishing days and how nice it was to wake up early pack the tackle box ready the lures and prepare for a day out on the lake fishing i decided what the hell, id give this a try. I got in touch with my cousin who also lived out in Spring Hill and told him to get plenty of sleep because tomorrow me and him were heading down to Hillsdale lake bright and early and seeing what this fishing thing was all about.
About 6 a.m. the next morning I slammed the trunk of his car, tackle boxes packed rods set up and we were off. As we drove i watched the sun rise i heard the birds singing i could smell the morning dew and in this moment i felt more at peace with myself than any other time in my life i could recall.
We reached the lake at about 6:15 and threw out our lines (at this time we had no knowledge of lures.. lines.. reels.. gears..exct.) i believe we had each just thrown a worm out on giant catfish hooks with my grandpas old 40 year old rods and we sat and waited.. although hours went by without catching anything i found myself enjoying the morning as we laughed and talked and joked back and forth watched the morning become afternoon it was almost a soul cleansing moment for me... but as i day dreamed and looked off into the clouds i felt it, a subtle yet distinctive tug on my line.. my eyes got huge as i saw the tip of my rod gently twitching towards the calm water below me, i looked over at my cousin who's eye were just as big and in this moment an adrenaline rush I to this day cant even explain took over my body, the fight was on!
As the fish darted back and forth flying up and surfacing and exploding in and out of the water almost violently i reeled and pulled on the rod.. the fight continued a good two or three minutes and i finally wrestled the big bass fish to my feet, tired and worn down the big bass lay on his side gills gasping, i took a knee and grabbed the fish by the bottom jaw just as i had been instructed by my grandpas stories and held him up.. it was an incredibly proud moment for me as me and my cousin stood on that lake bank staring at this gorgeous fish in amazement. It was in that moment i was hooked on this sport.. before i knew it i was researching types of rods and lures and filling my mind with all the information i could possibly find on the web about these amazing fish.
Now i find myself at the lake side about 6 out of the 7 days of the week with my new lures lines and rods re living that amazing moment time after time again.. no longer did i miss the parties or the people that were steering my life down the wrong path. So in this way, fishing saved my life. To this day you can find me out at the lake tackle box and rod in hand just doing what i love. happy fishing to all and thanks for listening. gone fishin' :)"
Scott cooper