FishingRod,

I think you can appreciate this story and so I will share with you.

I grew up in a big family. There were 7 of us kids. My dad was an avid bass fisherman. He also like to do a tournament from time to time. All my relatives also liked to do fishing and hunting like we did. My dad took fishing more seriously than anyone I have ever known (though I am sure some here might take fishing more seriously or have known others that did). Anyways, for the most part, my siblings and I as well, were not part of his bass fishing seriousness until we reached an age of 12 or so. I remember going on my first bass fishing trip with him at around that age. My dad had hooked a 4 lb LMB and was bringing her in. He looked oddly at me and with a tinge of disappointment said "What are you messing around for, ready the net". I had never netted a fish before. Not once. But I immediately started trying to get with the program. But of course, I really didn't understand what my father was asking of me. I was trying to scoop the fish and it was not cooperating and my dad paused and while the fish was doing its own thing he explained what he wanted me to do. He asked me to position the net in the water at an angle and just hold it there. So I did. Meanwhile he worked the fish around and the fish wound up swimming into the net and I lifted it. From that point on, I knew what my dad wanted

A couple of weeks later, we made a trip to Arkansas to fish for RBT as a family vacation. The location was near Flippin, AR. Where we stayed the host rented jon boats and had a bait shop on his dock. He had caught two Brown trout in excess of 20 lbs and one of which weighed over 27 lbs was mounted and displayed in the bait shop. Bless his soul, he favored me with conversation and answers to an unending list of questions. I asked how he got a fish that big into his boat. He said "I netted him with that net right there". It was a small net like you see a lot of people use when trout fish fishing. I own a couple like it. "But how?" I asked, "The fish is too big for that net!". He shared with me how. When he got the fish close to the boat and the line just enough out that he could maneuver it around he put his net in the water. Once he got the trout turned around and moving in the direction of net he released pressure on the fish and it just swam right into the net. He said, there is a limit to how big a fish can be netted with net that small but that one was small enough.

Anyways, it all came full circle in that moment for me. A motionless net is less apt to spook a fish and when a fish is moving in the direction of a net, at just the right moment, one can release the pressure and the fish will dive down and swim right in. I never forgot either experience and in memory they are paired. I have used the advice over and over through the years landing fish alone or with another holding the net. I expect that neither my dad nor that old host in Flippin could imagine at the time how long lasting those memories would become. Their legacy even now being remembered here.