My Lifetime Fishing
I was 16 months old when I went on my first fishing tournament, joining my grandfather Bill Burton, at the Waters and Woods Ball Fishing Tournament he staged for more than 50 years in the last weekend of April. I didn’t get to fish until my third tournament, and then I was skunked.
At four and a half, I caught my first rockfish, fishing with my grandpop during his April tournament. First we heard the ziinnnnnggggggg! of the reel, then the yell, Fish on! It was my turn to reel in the fish, but I was too little to do it by myself. However, Grandpop wasn’t going to let me down. We worked together. He held the rod for me, and I tried to turn the handle of the reel. It was too hard for me to turn by myself, so he also helped me reel it in. We took our time and worked together and landed a rockfish that was almost as big as me.
For the next four years, I got to go on many fishing trips with Grandpop, from lakes and ponds to streams to the Chesapeake. Whenever we fished together and I hooked a rockfish, we would always share the rod and reel it in together.
Now I’m 12, and I still fish. But I miss my fishing buddy.