Ahhh the first time I knew I wanted to fish for a living was my spring break in 4th grade. Every spring break my dad and I packed up our things for a week and headed down to Leitchfield and switched between Nolin, Rough, and the watersheds. Well on that particular spring break, my second cousin was showing us around some watersheds that had been producing some hawgs. And that is where I got hooked on the dreaded jig as well. It had rained and got the water way up, muddy, and it was the first of March. I remember pulling up to his house and telling us he had been waiting for a day like this for a while. We went around walking the watershed banks with a flippin' stick, 30 lb line, and 1/2 oz blk/blu jig WITH A RATTLE. I had never caught so many 3 and 4 lbers on less than 7' of line out. We would walk the bank, drop our jig on some brush, laydowns, etc. and sit there and hop it. Actually he told me to constantly tap on the rod handle with my fist to get those rattles uh shakin and do this for 1-2 minutes without moving the jig. WHAM!!!! I set the hook and look at me now...I got the hook set hard in me because I will do this until I die. I LOVE IT, I have fished tournaments since I was 10, not always had the best of funds for this expensive sport which I beleive hinders ALOT of youth who want to get involved, but my dad bought our first boat a BassTracker when I was 10, we started fishing some open tourneys; then got into local clubs, then fish BFL non-boater together, and the list can go on and on. My favorite fisherman has to be my dad and I hope my son (who is almost old enough to hold a pole...6 weeks old!) will say the same thing about me one day. Yes my father gets full credit of all I accomplish, well both my parents do! But hunting and fishing is the greatest thing my dad introduced me to. Now he is not as serious as I have become, so it is nice to be able to help him out now and share experience with him. He's the man!!
Eric Hickman Jr.