DAD AND FISHING

   The other day I found a picture of Dad that I didn't know I had. It was of Dad at his favorite past time...fishing. 

 Dad was absolutely obsessed with fishing. He was more obsessed with eating the fish he caught. 

    Where Dad's family lived they were about 50 miles from the closest fish. In those days they weren't going to go 50 miles to fish. 

    So Dad's first fishing experience was to catch suckers in the spring when they were spawning. These small creeks ran high with spring runoff and they were full of spawning fish. The sucker has a very small mouth and doesn't take a hook. So the method of catching them was to use a net. There many species of sucker and I think every province in Canada has suckers. 

     Dad with one of his fish

    Happiness!

    Now it was on pretty good authority that fishing was illegal in the spring during spawning. However, Dad could not resist fishing for suckers and as long as he lived there he caught suckers every spring. 

    Now these fish were full of little bones. However, Dad loved them. He would bring home many fish and Mom would can them. 

    Dad did graduate to rod and reel and casting and trolling. He flew into northern lakes and hired guides to find the best fishing spots. The guides fried fish on shore for lunch. 

   We laid dad's fishing rod on Dad's casket at his funeral.

   By the look on Dad's face you can tell how much he liked fishing for suckers and that he may have felt a little uncomfortable breaking the law.

   A couple of spectators!

THE LONG TOUGH ROAD OF BEING A DAD

      Here's a photo of my dad from 1936-37. It's before he was married and he had just started farming on his own. He's a rather cheerful handsome looking dude. 

      Here's Dad in 2002 at his 90th birthday. His Parkinson's was quite advanced by that time but he still appreciated his birthday and said that he never thought he would grow to be 90 years old. 

     Here's the last picture I have with Dad. He was 92-93 and Parkinson's was well advanced. 

     I can't help but notice the long slow deterioration in health.
   
     He raised 4 sons . We were a challenge. At the 90th birthday party some of the biggest issues were mentioned with humor. A certain motorcycle purchase was a sore spot.

     However, the great sadness for him being a Dad was to not be able to raise his only daughter. She died at age 11 and he never was able to come to terms with her loss.