TrepMan
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2000
- Messages
- 9,215
- Reaction score
- 2
I just had to post this picture and tell my "friends" the story of how I got hooked on fishing.
At 2pm tomorrow my wife's family will be saying Good Bye to Eugene B. James, my wife's dad, a father, a grandfather, an Airforce Veteran, a Metalurgist, a fisherman and one of the best people i've ever met. I was looking through our pictures today to see if there were any realy good unique ones to email them for his memorial gathering tomorrow and found this one. It realy is an amazing photo when I think about it, Eli's and his Grandpa holding Gene's last fish (Gene FINALY was the only one in 6 years to beat Eli fishing! It was Gene 1, and Eli 0 that day in November 2005).
For those of you new to this site, I didn't take up fishing until the fall of 1992. I married my wife Beka on June 16, 1991, and in the fall of 1992 her dad called me and asked "Hey Mike, do you want to come to Canada next fall and go fishing with the James Boys?" What was I to think? I'm a Golfer, a GREAT indoorsman (as my Dad, who passed away 2 1/2 years ago used to call himself), not a fisherman!! But... I thought...mmm this is my Father-n-law inviting me to join him, his 2 sons and their uncle in a fishing trip... Well the answer was not as simple as it might seem. I didn't want to be the "wussy" computer kid going "fishing" in the great Ontario wilderness and look like a nerd!!! So... I told Gene i'd let him know next week. The very next morning I asked a guy in my office who I knew went Bay fishing (we were living in Houston and he fished Galveston bay every weekend) to take me out. I told him that I NEEDED to do it all myself from baiting the hook, holding the fish to cleaning it and everything inbetween. I need to know if I could do this, and be part of the "family"...
Well the rest is history, we hooked up with an amazing amount of Specs (spotted sea trout) and Sand trout at the first place we anchored. I did it all, including cleaning the fish and bringing it home and cooking it for Beka. After dinner I told Beka, it was 2 weeks before my 26th birthday - "take back anything you got me, and we'll do a trip with Chris to the fishing store, I NEED fishing stuff!!!".
I went on that first trip with Gene in September 1993, my 2 brother-n-laws (George and Tom) and Gene's Brother-n-law Uncle Kipp, and have been "hooked" on fishing ever since. So when I titled this post "Passing of the fishing Gene" I realy meant it. If Gene had not asked me to join his "mens" trip to Canada, I would not have ever gotten into fishing, have enjoyed myself so much, owned 5 boats, met a lot of folks on this site, and more importantly... been able to share and pass the "fishing Gene" on to my youngest son Eli.
On Thursday January 26th I didn't just loose a Father-in-law, I lost a friend and a fishing buddy. I could not have asked for a better set of in-laws, and will miss Gene greatly.
Thanks for "listening", and may we all remember those of our families and friends who are no longer with us in person, but will live on forever in our hearts...
At 2pm tomorrow my wife's family will be saying Good Bye to Eugene B. James, my wife's dad, a father, a grandfather, an Airforce Veteran, a Metalurgist, a fisherman and one of the best people i've ever met. I was looking through our pictures today to see if there were any realy good unique ones to email them for his memorial gathering tomorrow and found this one. It realy is an amazing photo when I think about it, Eli's and his Grandpa holding Gene's last fish (Gene FINALY was the only one in 6 years to beat Eli fishing! It was Gene 1, and Eli 0 that day in November 2005).
For those of you new to this site, I didn't take up fishing until the fall of 1992. I married my wife Beka on June 16, 1991, and in the fall of 1992 her dad called me and asked "Hey Mike, do you want to come to Canada next fall and go fishing with the James Boys?" What was I to think? I'm a Golfer, a GREAT indoorsman (as my Dad, who passed away 2 1/2 years ago used to call himself), not a fisherman!! But... I thought...mmm this is my Father-n-law inviting me to join him, his 2 sons and their uncle in a fishing trip... Well the answer was not as simple as it might seem. I didn't want to be the "wussy" computer kid going "fishing" in the great Ontario wilderness and look like a nerd!!! So... I told Gene i'd let him know next week. The very next morning I asked a guy in my office who I knew went Bay fishing (we were living in Houston and he fished Galveston bay every weekend) to take me out. I told him that I NEEDED to do it all myself from baiting the hook, holding the fish to cleaning it and everything inbetween. I need to know if I could do this, and be part of the "family"...
Well the rest is history, we hooked up with an amazing amount of Specs (spotted sea trout) and Sand trout at the first place we anchored. I did it all, including cleaning the fish and bringing it home and cooking it for Beka. After dinner I told Beka, it was 2 weeks before my 26th birthday - "take back anything you got me, and we'll do a trip with Chris to the fishing store, I NEED fishing stuff!!!".
I went on that first trip with Gene in September 1993, my 2 brother-n-laws (George and Tom) and Gene's Brother-n-law Uncle Kipp, and have been "hooked" on fishing ever since. So when I titled this post "Passing of the fishing Gene" I realy meant it. If Gene had not asked me to join his "mens" trip to Canada, I would not have ever gotten into fishing, have enjoyed myself so much, owned 5 boats, met a lot of folks on this site, and more importantly... been able to share and pass the "fishing Gene" on to my youngest son Eli.
On Thursday January 26th I didn't just loose a Father-in-law, I lost a friend and a fishing buddy. I could not have asked for a better set of in-laws, and will miss Gene greatly.
Thanks for "listening", and may we all remember those of our families and friends who are no longer with us in person, but will live on forever in our hearts...