Fishing Forum

I've sat here and been reading posts and enjoying this website like I usually do when I was thinking of some opinions on different reels.
When I was a kid my dad used to take my sisters and me to the high uintas and we'd stay up there and camp and fish for 2-3 weeks right on 5 point lake.
When we all got older and our lives started to evolve we quit doing that (and the 15 mi horseback ride was a little rough on the old guy).
We have always missed going up there, Dad worked in the forest service for several years and used to maintain those trails up in that area so he is an excellent guide to have up there.
I've always looked back on that and wondered why he doesn't fish anymore at all. He likes to work and farm and spend time with all the grandkids and play in his garden.
I spent a couple years going through pictures and talking to my mother and trying to figure out what would it take to get him back into fishing again.
Heres what I have done, I took my mother out because she is a little easier to get out of the house. I took her to a place where I knew she would catch some fish, and that she did!!!
She started going quite regulary and soon she bought a boat and would go with my sisters and me because she wasn't confident enough to launch her boat alone.
Well as wifes know how she begged/threatened/dragged my dad out for a few trips and I'll be damned if he still has the fishing bug still flowing through his veins, in fact he's the one that usually outfishes everyone.
we went out a few times and I've noticed that he is stuck on his old zebco closed face spinning reels and I've tried to break him into the open faced but he wont budge at all, I decided to give in and buy him a new reel and I'm telling you those closed face reels are getting hard to find.
I found these rhinos ([url "http://www.rhinofishing.com/prod_sc.htm"]http://www.rhinofishing.com/prod_sc.htm[/url]) and decided to buy him one and try it out.
We went out and right out of the box I noticed that he could outcast my shimano sahara. I was very impressed and so was he.
I'm not going to jump the fence and go back to using a closed face reel but after seeing these perform I did purchase one for myself and keep it in my boat as a backup.
its funny how just the thoughts of certain things can bring up some valuable memories.
I hope that my story isnt' putting anyone to sleep I just was sitting here bored and wishing I was fishing today and thought I'd share this with all of you.
to date My dad and I fish quite a bit and we spend alot more time together (which is something we didn't do for several years)
when I gave him that new rod and reel setup he told me that the last one that he had was still new in its package and it had sat on the same shelf for over 20 years.
I found that one also and looked at it and remembered that I bought him that one when I was 13 years old. I told him that this one better last 20 more years because I'm not buying him another one til then.
DZ
[signature]

I still have one of those old Zebcos! I don't think its been on a rod for at least 20 years, but I still have it. That story remined me of my dad. As kids we would take a 5 mike hike every year to Packwood lake in Washington State. Its right next to Mt. Rainier. We would go every summer until we went in the service. We've been up there about 4 times in the last 8 or 9 years. We are all going back there over Labor day weekend. We are going to spread my dads ashes and have one hell of a fish fry. Al
[signature]

I grew up fishing with closed faced reels. My favorite model was the zebco silver bullet. I fished with that reel for years and never did find a reel that I could cast further or with more accuracy.

Cableguy
[signature]

Danzilla

Enjoy this second fishing career with your dad. I got to enjoy mine the last to years. My dad also quit fishing for about ten years. He always was to busy to go. As a kid he used to take me every thursday up Mirror Lake highway and we would fish up and down the canyon but mostly on the North Fork of the Provo River. We also spent most weekends somewhere camping and fishing. Then my did a project in California and we didnt go fishing for a good ten years. He also said his legs were not good enough to wade the rivers anymore. We almost exclusively fly fished in my younger years. Well about ten years ago I bought a boat and tried to get him to go out with me but he also resisted for about a year. Then one trip trip to the Berry I caught a 28 inch rainbow and that did it. He started talking about all the great times we had fishing and the big fish he had caught. Well the next day found us at Strawberry. We fished alot after that and I'm grateful he finally went with me again. My dad passed away in January and my trip to Alaska was also to spread dads ashes. I have had a hard time this year going fishing. In fact until we went to Alaska I only made it out three times. A far cry from every almost weekend I had spent spent fishing most my life. And one of those I never wetted a line just watched the nephews fish. His memory is still the the strongest when I have a pole in my hand. So I would urge anyone else who has not been fishing with there dad for a while, to do what it takes to get at least one more trip with the old man. It will be some of your greatest memories once he's gone.
[signature]

[font "Courier"][black][font "Verdana"][black]Reading these posts has brought back a lot of great memories I have of fishing with my grandpa when I was younger. He had a boat and loved to take us out for some quality fishing. He lived in Salt Lake and I lived in Idaho, but we were still able to get out fishing quite a bit. In fact, the biggest fish I had caught up until a couple years ago was with my grandpa on a little reservoir in Idaho called Hawkins Basin. I wasn’t very old, but will never forget that. It was just a 3 pound Rainbow, but I was so young I thought it was huge. It was all I could do to lift it up for the picture []. I’ll have to dig through some of my parents old photo albums and try to find that pic.

My dad worked on a farm when I was young and never really had time to get out fishing with us. I know he used to fish when he was younger because he has an old tackle box and fishing pole in his storage room. He doesn’t work on the farm anymore and we have finally been able to get out fishing a couple times in the past couple years. I really would love to go out fishing with my grandpa again, but he is just too fragile. I offered to take him out and help him with the knot tying and landing the fish (he has had a couple strokes and is really weak and shaky). He said he just isn’t able to sit for that long anymore [unsure]. Anyway, thanks for letting me re-live some old memories.[/black][/font]

[/black][/font]
[signature]