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I can't tell you how many times I've heard that
this year. My nephew came to visit this summer.
Twelve years old and never stops moving. If you
don't keep him busy he entertains himself, which
usually means fixing something. Well, actually,
taking something apart and spreading parts everywhere,
never to be brought together again. So as you can
imagine, the pressure was on to avoid those dreadful
words, "I'm Bored!"
I'm kinda getting ahead of myself here. My brother-in-law's
family lives in southern California and we live in northern
Cal. We've been pretty pre-occupied with grandchildren for
the last six or so years. Consequently, we haven't spent
time with the family for a while. That changed a few months
ago when we got a call that our sister-in-law had passed
away in her sleep. Tom was away for the weekend for a
soccer referee seminar and nephew Thomas had found his Mom.
The family was in total disarray so we rushed down to help
in any way we could. By the time we left, plans had been
made for the four kids to come for a visit. Thought it
would be a good idea for them to get away and give Tom
a little time to himself.
Sounded good for everyone but me. I was laid off earlier
and had decided to spend some time landscaping the back yard.
Our giant 150 year old oak tree had fallen and the yard was
destroyed. Sounds pretty good till four teenage kids show
up on your doorstep. That's when the fun began. The girls
fended for themselves most of the time and Thomas became my
shadow.
We had a great time mountain biking, kayaking, building
things, landscaping and finally----fishing. Tom had
never been and was instantly hooked. I had a great time
experiencing a sport through his eyes that I had been
involved in since I could crawl. We fished ponds, creeks,
rivers and probably a few puddles. He was using my little
ultra-light spinning outfit and I my fly rod. Most days
I out-fished him badly, but a couple of days he could do
no wrong.
I've fished a few blue ribbon waters and had some stellar
days that our local fly shop owner calls 'events.' Days
when fish are jumping in your float tube and hitting both
flies on your rig. I don't think I've ever had a better
time than I did with Tom, chasing little smallies and blue
gills in a small crick just outside the city limits. When
it was time for him to go I bought him a spinning rod and
some tackle and showed him how to find fishing spots close
to home.
He kept that rod with him for a whole week, you would have
thought it was gold. He called me when he got home to tell
me he had found places to fish he didn't know even existed.
I do believe I have created a monster.
We just returned from another visit and I was impressed
with his resourcefulness at finding fishing spots around
Chino, Cal. I was even more impressed when he pressed me
to teach him to fly fish. We spent three evenings
practicing casting till dark. I've never seen him do
one thing for that long in one sitting. On the fourth
evening we fished. Sorry to say I outfished him again,
but he never lost the Panny Popper I gave him, (I lost
two flies), and caught two nice bluegill. Not a bad
first outing. I think a seed has been planted that
will flourish for a lifetime. Well, at least until
he discovers girls.
On the drive home I told my wife that I was going to
build him a custom rod for Christmas and immediately
started glueing cork together when I got home. That
evening I got a call from Thomas. You guessed it,
"Hi Uncle Mike, I'm bored. When are we going fishing
again?" Then he asked if I would build him a rod. I
told him I'd think about it. Can't wait to see him
at Christmas! Tight Lines Thomas! ~ Mike Baker
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