Fishing Stories
When I was very young, my Granddad, taught me some fishing methods that I have been passing on to my Grandchildren. I hope my family continues this practice in the future. All my Grandchildren love to go fishing. Here’s a few fishing stories.
Fishing Stories
When I was 10 years old, my Dad took a weeks vacation at Thanksgiving and we traveled to Sulphur Springs, Arkansas to spend Thanksgiving with my Grandparents. My Grandfather,Frank, had a network of fishing buddies he played dominos with and he had reputable information that the crappie were biting in the heated dock at Kings Point on Grand Lake. So my Dad, my Granddad, and I loaded up our fishing gear and headed for Kings Point. I watched both of them for a while as they were both masters at catching crappies. They would use a crappie gold hook and hook a minnow just behind the fin on his back through the meat on his tail and put one B B sized sinker about eight inches above the hook. They would never lay their rods down and keep them jigging up and down and to the side. When they felt a bump, they would jerk the tip of the rod up to hook the crappie. I watched what they were doing and soon I was keeping up with them catching crappie. That day we caught over 60 large crappie (no limit in those days) and I felt like one of the boys. My Grandmother, Lucy fixed us a fish fry fit for a king in addition to a delicious Thanksgiving dinner.
In recent years, I have started taking my daughters and Grandchildren to Grand Lake to enjoy dock fishing with their PoPo, so I could teach them some of the tricks I learned from my Granddad. On one occasion, we rented a three bedroom cabin at Lees Resort, and had a ball. The crappie and the white bass were biting so we actually caught a lot of large crappie and sand bass. My grandson Ben caught a very nice white bass on that trip with a little help from his Mom, Kristi. We gave the fish to an elderly couple at the dock who said they almost lived off of fish they caught.
Kristi holding Ben and the White Bass Ben caught at the dock at Lee’s Resort near Grove, Oklahoma.
On another occasion more recently, we were staying at a Motel in Grove, Oklahoma. and decided to take the kids to the Indian Point fishing dock. They were a little older and perhaps got a better feel for crappie fishing on this trip. We caught a lot of fish, but most of them were small. The grand kids didn’t care how big they were as long as they were having fun. They probably caught 40 small crappie. Luke kept saying that’s the same one I caught last time. Zacks favorite thing to do was to net minnows out of the minnow bucket and hand them to whoever needed bait.
Bill teaching l-r Sarah, Ben, Luke, and Zack my technique for catching crappie at Indian Point fishing dock. That’s Kristi observing the master at work.
When warmer weather came around, we tried the outside fishing with the grandchildren at a lake in Tulsa. For a while we weren’t catching anything until a nice black man brought us some of the corn he was using. After that, the Grandkids caught about 30 perch and catfish using the corn. It was hard to get them to leave that day.
Zack with a catfish he caught at the lake in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Sarah holding up a catfish she caught at the lake in Tulsa.
Very recently when we were in Frisco, Texas, visiting Tamara’s family, Pam and I took our grandsons, Luke and Zack, fishing at a lake near their home. We had been fishing about thirty minutes, and Zack brought me his third tangle and said….”PoPo, I guess I’m just going to have to take some fishing lessons” I just laughed and said…”You’re doing pretty good already…” We had a great time.
A large mouth bass Luke caught at the lake near his home in Frisco, Texas.
Zack and I fishing at the lake near his home in Frisco.
Teaching my Grandchildren the same techniques my Granddad taught me was a very rewarding experience. I think we should strive to do more of this is in the fast moving society of today. Sometimes the old traditions can be very rewarding.
Thanks for reading Fishing Stories, Hawg Jaw Bill