Fishing

A lot of people fish here in southwest Louisiana. After all, this is a “sportsman’s paradise.” And there certainly are a lot of places to fish -- countless rivers, bayous, lakes and ponds, the Gulf of Mexico. Not long after we moved here, we enthusiastically bought a couple new poles and our fishing licenses, thinking maybe the fishing bug would bite us. But we haven’t used them much. At all. I’m not all that interested in fishing. Not lately anyway. But I have such fond memories of fishing with my dad when I was a little girl. We lived in southwest Pennsylvania, so we’d fish in lakes or small cascading streams. I don’t recall fishing along rivers – maybe Dad was afraid I’d fall in. My grandparents, both sets, had ponds on their properties, and sometimes we’d fish there. I have no photos of me fishing with my father, but I do have the memories. One in particular stands out. I drew the pole up over my shoulder, cast out the line, and the fishing hook sunk deep into the seat of my father’s pants. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Or run. I recall the event as being hysterically funny, though it may not have been at the time.

All this comes to mind because this past weekend was a “free fishing weekend” in Louisiana. Which means we could legally fish without a license. Since mine had long since expired, it seemed like something I should take advantage of. I wanted to catch some reds – they’re so good on the grill. So we bought some shrimp for bait and went down to the marina. I really wanted to catch a fish. Any fish. Just one fish. But I guess it was the wrong time of day. Or the wrong place. And we didn’t have a lot of time. The fish weren’t biting. Maybe next year.

Speaking of memories, here are a couple of my favorite photos of my sons fishing with my Grandpa Lowdermilk in 1999. The boys were five years old at the time.





And here they are fishing with my dad in 2006, a year before we moved to Louisiana.

Do you have any fun fishing memories?

Wishing my dad and all the dads out there a very Happy Father’s Day!