As I've said a few times here, my grandson Aiden has been my fishing partner each Saturday for 5yrs now. Aiden recently turned 16, and applied for a job as a grocery sacker at a store in town. He got the job. This will be his first real job, and it will be good for him to work, and learn what it's all about to budget and make money on his own.Saturday is a busy day at the store, and his boss told him that it's important he be there at 8:00 each Saturday morning. So, he can't go fishing with me like we have for the last 5yrs. I ran into an old friend, actually a friend of my older brothers, up in town the other night. Mike is 71. He walks with a limp, and has since 1970, when he returned from Vietnam, with a leg wound from a bullet which came from ground fire and entered a helicopter he was in. He asked me if I still fished, and I said of course. I invited him to go. He said he hadn't fished in 12 yrs. On Thurs night last week, I picked him up and we made a run to Academy where he got new line, some plastic worms, 2 new spinnerbaits, and a new Pop-R. We spooled his reels, cleaned up his rods and tackle, and sharpened the hooks on his older baits. At one time over 12 yrs ago, Mike was a good fisherman, and had a reputation for being a skilled fisherman in our area. When his wife passed away several yrs ago, he kind of gave up on things. The fog was still on the water when we shoved off at daybreak last Saturday morning. He started with his new spinnerbait, me a buzzbait. We got no action for the first half hour, then he hooked a small 10" bass. We moved over some deeper water when a solid 3lb bass hit his spinnerbait. He admired the fish, and turned it loose. Things got quiet for a while. What's up Mike? You ok? He looked over and said " Man, I Love this." I don't really know why I quit fishing, I guess I just kind of quit everything. We finished the trip by noon, using plastic worms over a deeper area that always produced a few fish for Aiden and I. Yes, he backlashed a couple of times, and overshot his cast a few times, but really did pretty good for not having fished for 12 yrs. We made plans to fish on the weekend for the rest of the season, and if Aiden gets a Saturday off by chance of course he can go too. I'm sure within 2 more trips, Mike will be firing off accurate cast just like he did years ago. One more thing: He hasn't ever heard of Kevin Van Dam. I'm pretty sure he doesn't care either. Hes getting his game back now, picking back up where he left off. Soon , he'll gain his reputation back as a skilled fisherman. Hopefully, it will give him a new outlook on life too. I think it's going to work out that way.
