Fishing Is More Than Just Fishing
June 3, 2020 at 2:01 a.m.
Fishing Is More Than Just Fishing
By Roger Grossman-
If you aren’t familiar with the term, it’s the day we met Oliver in China. It’s the first time we got to see him with our own eyes and hold him in our arms.
“Gotcha Day” is sort of like a second birthday. Hannah and Oliver get to pick what we do and where we eat on their special day.
Mom takes their picture in a same spot in the same park every year.
So Monday, Oliver was in charge of the Grossman family schedule.
He chose fishing.
We spent the afternoon on one of the 120 lakes here in Kosciusko County. We caught a few nice bluebill, and my wife snagged a couple of 12-inch perch and a 14-inch bass.
It was a motley crew in our bucket, but with some crushed up crackers and a little quality time in the frying pan, they’ll eat just fine.
Beyond that, fishing is so much more than a potential food source.
About three hours into our day on the lake, my 6-year old kindergarten graduate took a seat next to me in the back of the boat to cast his bobber out near mine. As his red worm was floating five feet below the water line and a foot off the bottom, he blew me away as he has so many times before.
He said “Dad, the best part of my Gotcha Day is that I get to spend my day fishing with you, mama and my sister.”
Take a minute and grab a tissue — it’s ok.
I did my best to play it cool. He never looked at me to say what he said, so I didn’t look back at him.
Just then, Oliver starts reeling.
Understand, his fishing pole is 24-inches long so he can’t really lift his pole to set the hook like his dad. He knows that, so when his bobber disappeared from view, he was ready and started cranking.
He was grunting and groaning (which is quite funny to hear) and he had the facial expressions of intensity to match.
He lifted his catch into the boat, and it was a beautiful bluegill — turned out to be the best of the day in our boat.
It was as if God had heard this little boy and said “here you go son.”
The look on his face when he saw that fish was nothing any amount of money could ever buy. His eyes were wide open and his smile touched his ears.
The point of telling you this story is that fishing can do something that very few things can anymore. It gets you out into nature. It puts fresh air into your lungs and the bright sun onto your skin. You can go for an hour without saying a word, and still speak volumes.
You can get a lot done while you are fishing.
A boat is nice, but not required. Here in our area there are a lot of places where you can fish from the shore, including an entire shoreline on Pike Lake.
Here is the most important thing to remember: catching fish while you are fishing isn’t required either.
I know that “hunkering down” has made us want to spread out and get away from each other, which would be pretty much the opposite of getting into a 14’ x 6’ boat. But this is different. It’s fishing.
When you are fishing, you experience a freedom you can’t find many places on shore.
If you come home with a bucket-full or an empty bucket, it just doesn’t matter—a day spent fishing is the best kind of day you can have.
So get your license, grab a pole and some bait…and go fishing.
Oh, and take a kid with you.
You’ll never regret it.
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If you aren’t familiar with the term, it’s the day we met Oliver in China. It’s the first time we got to see him with our own eyes and hold him in our arms.
“Gotcha Day” is sort of like a second birthday. Hannah and Oliver get to pick what we do and where we eat on their special day.
Mom takes their picture in a same spot in the same park every year.
So Monday, Oliver was in charge of the Grossman family schedule.
He chose fishing.
We spent the afternoon on one of the 120 lakes here in Kosciusko County. We caught a few nice bluebill, and my wife snagged a couple of 12-inch perch and a 14-inch bass.
It was a motley crew in our bucket, but with some crushed up crackers and a little quality time in the frying pan, they’ll eat just fine.
Beyond that, fishing is so much more than a potential food source.
About three hours into our day on the lake, my 6-year old kindergarten graduate took a seat next to me in the back of the boat to cast his bobber out near mine. As his red worm was floating five feet below the water line and a foot off the bottom, he blew me away as he has so many times before.
He said “Dad, the best part of my Gotcha Day is that I get to spend my day fishing with you, mama and my sister.”
Take a minute and grab a tissue — it’s ok.
I did my best to play it cool. He never looked at me to say what he said, so I didn’t look back at him.
Just then, Oliver starts reeling.
Understand, his fishing pole is 24-inches long so he can’t really lift his pole to set the hook like his dad. He knows that, so when his bobber disappeared from view, he was ready and started cranking.
He was grunting and groaning (which is quite funny to hear) and he had the facial expressions of intensity to match.
He lifted his catch into the boat, and it was a beautiful bluegill — turned out to be the best of the day in our boat.
It was as if God had heard this little boy and said “here you go son.”
The look on his face when he saw that fish was nothing any amount of money could ever buy. His eyes were wide open and his smile touched his ears.
The point of telling you this story is that fishing can do something that very few things can anymore. It gets you out into nature. It puts fresh air into your lungs and the bright sun onto your skin. You can go for an hour without saying a word, and still speak volumes.
You can get a lot done while you are fishing.
A boat is nice, but not required. Here in our area there are a lot of places where you can fish from the shore, including an entire shoreline on Pike Lake.
Here is the most important thing to remember: catching fish while you are fishing isn’t required either.
I know that “hunkering down” has made us want to spread out and get away from each other, which would be pretty much the opposite of getting into a 14’ x 6’ boat. But this is different. It’s fishing.
When you are fishing, you experience a freedom you can’t find many places on shore.
If you come home with a bucket-full or an empty bucket, it just doesn’t matter—a day spent fishing is the best kind of day you can have.
So get your license, grab a pole and some bait…and go fishing.
Oh, and take a kid with you.
You’ll never regret it.
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