Just Like Basketball

This is my son, Jeremiah. He'll be 14 next month. Hard to believe. There are two things he loves: basketball and fishing. He didn't get the basketball from me, but I think I've had some influence on making him a fully-obsessed fisherman.

I got him a fly rod a few years ago, and he gave it a game shot. But he soon decided that a spinning rod and pretty little Roostertails was the way to go. He can also thread a worm on a hook with the best of them. And he does like all those colors that Powerbait comes in.

The thing is, he feels keenly that, as a fisherman, he hasn't yet broken through to the next level. He has caught many little tiny fish. But he really, really wants to catch a big fish. Or lots of good fish. You know how that goes. His friend Adrian's Dad has a bass boat (Jeremiah thinks I should get one), and a row boat (Jeremiah thinks I should get one of those, too), and Jeremiah has gone out with them a bunch of times, to three different lakes--but has yet to catch anything, you know, impressive.

His friend Ian caught this bass last summer. You can tell how happy Jeremiah is for him. And that he's probably thinking, "Why him? Why not me?"

Jeremiah has been out with Adrian and his Dad three times already this Spring. Nothing. Last week during Spring Break they took him with them to Seattle for a couple days, and they went to the Aquarium. You should hear Jeremiah talk about the big fish they saw there: Trout, Steelhead, Sturgeon, Ling Cod...

Each time I've gone to Early Lake he's been the one to ask me how I did. And he has taken note of the fact that I have caught fish every time. Not big ones, but a lot of them. He wasn't sure he believed it at first, but I convinced him.

Sunday night he finally asked me when I could take him there. So I've got to plan this carefully. Maybe he'll consent to go out in the canoe, even though it doesn't make any noise or go real fast. He can troll those Roostertails, or cast and reel, and catch plenty of fish, I bet. And maybe, just maybe, if I take along two fly rods, and he watches me catch a few trout on a dry, he'll say, "Dad, ...could I try that?"

I'm looking forward to that trip. And even if he doesn't ask this time, I'm pretty sure, when the time is right, he will. And I'll say, "Yeah, look, it's just like basketball..."