Fishing with Dad
In the 1960’s (1966-1969) Dad and his partner at the Waco Paint Center, Charley, decided they were going to be fisherman. The two of them had been getting together to go fishing somewhere in the local area for several months when Dad announced they were going to buy a fishing boat!
Mother and Carla, my sister, never added their memories of the fishing events of 1966 through 1969, would have been nice if they had since I do not seem to remember all the details.
Now that I think back on those days it may be that we had been going to Lake Whitney near Dallas on weekends and those trips got Dad interested in fishing. We were going to Whitney to stay at the Browns Lodge and later to stay at the Braun Lodge for what seemed like forever (another story).
These weekend jaunts had nothing to do with fishing and more to do with Dad and Mother and their friends renting a cabin from Friday through Sunday to socialize and play cards while I was more into girls and the pool.
Carla was there but am not sure what she was up to or what she did way back then and that is why her remembrances of these trips would be nice.
At the time all this fishing was going on I had just entered high school (I was an athlete [Richfield Rams - Waco - Texas Football] and not a sportsman) and fishing was not in my plans for weekends or so I thought.
As I mentioned the part of the fishing I was most involved in was the trips to the Lake Whitney area, the pool and the girls.
Dad ask me if I would like to go with him to do some fishing while he tested out a fishing boat and I of course had to say yes just to make Dad happy, even though I was having flash backs of our one time on a dove hunting trip that was interesting but strange (Pigeons were involved) to say the least, but that is another story.
Dad did try and get me out from in front of the TV and out and about in the sportsman world every chance he got. All I can remember is sitting in a flat bottom boat in a small lake near the Owens Illinois Glass Plant club house with dad and me trying to catch fish.
I handled the net to pull in whatever Dad caught, but that day we spent most of our time trying to keep from getting our fishing lines hung in the weeds and keeping the troll motor from getting stuck in the mud. It was interesting to be out with Dad since Dad and I did not spend a lot of time together in those days.
Dad worked from early in the morning to late in the afternoon and I was at school during the day and at football and track practice until late in the day. At night we seemed to also be on different schedules, in fact I am not sure what we did that kept us from being able to do things together, guess it was that teenager thing. Dad was good to me and I loved him but the fishing and hunting thing was not my thing in those days.
Once Dad and Charley got fishing in their mind they went nuts and purchased a fishing boat. Yes, they went out and bought a fishing boat and Dad kept the boat in our garage.
I was horrified when I heard they had bought a boat and we were keeping it in our garage. I had that mental picture of one like we had been in weeks earlier which had been an old green or silver flat bottom boat with two fishing seats on it and a large funny looking troll motor mounted on the front.
Dad took me out to show me the boat; he was so proud of since he wanted me to be happy with the boat. Dad opened the garage door and there it was, a boat that was nothing like the boat I had been in earlier. Dad had bought a sleek, light blue, stated of the art fishing boat, with a 55 horsepower inboard outboard motor on the rear, collapsible troll motor on the front, depth finder, fish tank, cooler tank, and the boat could seat 6! I was in shock, this was a ski boat modified to be a fishing boat. This boat had possibilities and I was ready to use it, once I learned how to pilot a boat!
Never made it out fishing with Dad again but I did manage to take the ski boat out on Lake Waco several times as a ski boat and not a fishing boat. I did not ski much but did sport about the lake in Dads high powered fishing boat. Have no idea how I learned to pilot the boat, am sure Dad must have taught me how to drive the boat (Mother taught me how to drive a car and that is a wild story also) but for some reason that memory has not surfaced yet.
Dad had his fishing moments and he and his partner went fishing together for several years on Lake Waco, Lake Whitney and even took several trips to the Gulf of Mexico and they had fun and enjoyed being fisherman! Dad loved to cook on the outdoor barbeque, cook stakes and FISH and he had plenty of fish in those days since he was a good fisherman.
Not sure why Dad and Charley got over the fishing phase but after about four years they were done with it and sold the boat and as far as I know never made it out fishing again