I love to fish. Some of my favorite memories of being a kid was going fishing with my folks and my brother. We spent a lot of summer time evenings out at the lake, with bait in the water. Sometimes we caught fish, because I remember my dad cleaning the fish!

When I was a little older, I went to "the quarry" with my Auntie M and her mom during the week, waiting for Slim and Uncle Glenn to come on the weekend. I sat in a lawnchair, on a sandbar, in the water, with my pole in the water and a bucket beside me to put the fish in that I caught. I was probably younger than 8. I was wearing my swimsuit and I had to of spent the majority of the day sitting there. I don't remember catching any fish, though I know that we caught an awful lot of fish out of that quarry over the years! However, I got a horrible sunburn from sitting in that chair in the water for so long. I don't remember the pain of the sunburn, though. I remember the joy of fishing.

When I was older still, my dad would take off Wednesday afternoons from work and he and I would go fishing. He had access to a pair of private lakes, and even on the hottest of summer days, we would go, find a spot of shade, and fish. Actually, I remember me fishing and my dad watching me fish.

In jr. high and high school, we took some family trips with friends or other family members to NW Ontario Canada to fish. A couple of actual fishing memories stick with me. (There was so much more to those trips than just fishing that I could fill a week's worth of posts just with those!) I remember being with my mom, and the daughter of another family, the other family's grandfather, and my mom in a boat on a lake. We were boating along and got pulled over! I thought it was sooo funny that we got pulled over on a lake! The officer checked our licenses and our catch and let us go on our merry way.

I remember being in the boat, on another trip, with my mom and my aunt and a friend of mine. I was the only one who knew how to drive the boat. I was probably between my jr and sr years of high school. We were in a cove, fishing, but probably not catching anything. Fortunately, the weather was nice and sunny, because I got a migraine. And I could not drive the boat. So, we sat there until my dad and my uncle found us and were able to drive our boat back to the cabin.

Then there was the year that we were in Canada and it was both Father's Day and my dad's birthday on the same day. We had taken a trip to another lake where the place we were staying at had boats to use. My dad was running the motor of the boat and we were trolling around this small lake. I started catching fish. A lot of fish. I caught my limit of walleye. Then I caught my dad's limit of walley. My dad just keep running the boat around that lake and watching me catch fish. I always felt a bit guilty for not letting him catch a single fish on Father's day and his birthday, but he told me that it was ok. I could tell by his smile that it was.

Amber and Eric and Amy have been fishing since they were babies. We'd take the playpen along and put them in it while we fished. They were catching their own fish at a very early age. Just like their momma. : )

I have a whole lifetime of memories of fishing. A couple of summers ago, I'd drag my good friend Angie out a lot of nights to sit by the river in NW Iowa and fish. I don't think we ever did catch a fish while we were fishing together. But, I got a lot of venting done and stress relieved. Thanks Angie!

Last summer, I took the Happy Bus down to my favorite fishing spot on the flatlands. I'd had much better luck catching fish at other spots, but this spot was much more peaceful. At my favorite spot there was a fire pit and a picnic table and I spent a lot of nights sitting on the banks of that river, while a fire burned in that pit with my line in the water. Mostly I watched the clouds and the moon and listened to the sounds of nature.

One day, in the middle of a bright summer day, I went to my spot and set up my chair, got out the tackle box and my pole. I threw the tackle into the water and pulled out the book I was reading at the time. The water went by and the sun moved along. I read my book and didn't worry at all about that stuff in the water! A DNR agent came along and checked my license and wished me good luck fishing! I told her not to do that! I didn't want to catch any fish... I just wanted to relax and read!!!! : )

Now, I'm home. My fishing tackle is not with me. My memories are. My desire to fish is still with me. There is a whole river out there, and ponds and streams and creeks and pools and all sorts of places for me to fish. I'm looking forward to enjoying finding good spots again and enjoying some peaceful times by the water. Heck, I might even catch a fish!!! : )