A Fishing First…
at 90 Fresh ‘n Fancy Years Old
“Somebody just back of you while you are fishing is as bad as someone looking over your shoulder while you write a letter to your girl.”
We went fishing with T-Bone's Dad just to blow off some steam and give ourselves a mental reset. T-Bone and his dad have been fishing together since he was about 5 years old and they have probably spent thousands of hours, collectively, on the lakes in and around East Texas in the past six decades. So, if Mister Harold gets a hankering for some fishing at 90 fresh and fancy years of age, we try our best to get him to some water. 🫶😁
In all of his MANY years of casting a rod, he encountered or maybe endured is a better word, a genuine first on the water… a slap in the face from a fish! Now before you choke on your coffee, bagel or sandwich… Just know, that fish had a helping hand, from none other than T-Bone himself… NOW, you may commence to gusping that gasp! 🤭🤣🐟
Had I not been at the very back of the boat, and dishing out my own line of crap to T-Bone for no particular reason, other than 🤷🫶I love him like that,🤭 I might have actually been paying attention to my OWN fishing… and had I been paying attention to my OWN fishing I would have missed out on this most spectacular event. 😲I only regret that there was not a camera in hand, nor one rolling, for to have been able to share this with all of you in THAT format would be truly epic… even Mister Harold agrees on this point.
Now, we had been catching and releasing little, feisty bass all morning. Those kind that hit like a two-pounder and fight like hell. 😁 Fun! IYKYK how you can just snatch those little guys right out of the water! In fact, Mister Harold had already yeeted one from the bank side of the boat plum OVER us and out into the center of the lake and OFF his hook. 😲🤣
T-Bone gets stuck in the middle seat when I go with them… I steal the very back seat from him and he is a super sweet sport about it. He ends up sitting at a funny angle sometimes, so when he yanks his rod… well, his bait ends up sailing by my head sometimes or by his dad. It is just the hazard of three bodies in a boat.
I am sure by this point you have already begun to piece together the scene… I am not sure, but I think his dad was putting on a new bait. I was talking smack to T-Bone, but facing his dad so I saw it ALL… T-Bone yanked on that little ol’ fish like it musta weighed fifteen pounds. It sailed up and through the air, I thought I heard it holler, “OH SHIT” when it flew by! But, that fish flew up there and smacked his dad square in the face like he owed him rent! Then it just fell off the hook and onto the deck… like huh?🤭🤣
There was a very short, stunned moment of silence. Then I think we ALL burst into laughter, as we checked to make sure dad’s face was indeed ok… it was! That fish was flopping away between his feet, his glasses were slightly askew and dripping with lake water, and he was grinning from ear to ear, giggling while fishing away. 🙌
He dried his glasses off with his ‘hanky’ and let us know that was indeed a lifetime first for him, which just made T-Bone and me laugh even harder!
It wasn’t even fifteen minutes later and he calmly and smoothly landed a beautiful largemouth that was ‘big fish o’ the day,’ officially skunking us both, as is his custom. I suppose that is what you get for spinning around on this ol’ rock for ninety years, huh? A little wisdom to pass down, a few great fishing stories if you are lucky and the skills to land big fish of the day… every single time.
