Fishing with a Newbie

If you are reading this, chances are you like to fish and that you have caught a fish within the last few years.  (If you don't fit into that category, then hopefully you have plans to change that!)  If you're like me, I fish a lot.  I'm luck enough to catch hundreds of fish each year and in my younger days when I fished even more than I currently do, I would catch over 1,000 fish per year.  Yes, I kept an actual count and no, I don't anymore.  However, not everyone has the same resources, knowledge, or passion.  That's why I jumped at the chance to take my brother-in-law fishing when he asked me to take him.

Brandon is a great guy!  He's thoughtful, funny, and generous.  He works hard at his job and has received multiple promotions as a result.  On many, many occasions, he has been there for Wendy, me, his folks, and my family when we needed help.  He doesn't spend a lot of time hunting, fishing, or camping and I don't mean that as a knock against him.  Up until recently, he just hasn't had much of an interest in those activities.  We have talked on a few occasions over the last few months about camping and fishing though.  We finally got a chance for him to experience putting up a tent and fishing for some bass last weekend.

In total, we went to four ponds.  We fished from the bank at the first pond where he struck out.  I caught three but really had to work for them.  This told me that we needed to find a hotter spot.  At the next lake, he landed the first bass since his childhood.  The excitement came through in his voice and his smile showed exactly how much fun he was having among other things.  He got better at casting.  He started to figure out where fish tended to be found and target those spots.  He changed his retrieve until he found a pattern as well.  By the end of the day, he had learned A LOT simply by trial and error.  

Brandon's experience also energized me.  It reminded me of my younger days as a kid and how it felt when I was getting back into fishing after college.  The entire experience renewed my enthusiasm for the sport I love and made me appreciate each fish a little bit more.  If you get a chance to take someone fishing, please consider doing so.  You will will give a person an experience and memory that they will never forget and you just might end up with the same as well!