=========================Originally Posted by SlopFishin
That's just your opinion...right?
Several years ago my father was dying of leukemia and and I did everything I could do to make his life easier and enjoyable for him. If you know anything about the weather in South Alabama, you know that there are days in November and December that are "shirt sleeve" weather. On Christmas Day, while the rest of the family made dinner, I drove Dad to his favorite place, Okatuppa Creek, and we stopped on a bridge to look down into a fairly large hole of water to see how clear it was for a fishing trip the next day. We saw large bass everywhere and Dad sat down on the side of the bridge to watch them.
To find his car without a fishing rod and a "Yellow Sally" (buzzbait) would be worse than finding him without his pants on. I hurried to the car and pulled out that old fishing rod and lure and carried them to Dad. I said, "Here Dad, catch us some fish for Christmas dinner." His eyes lit up as he made his first cast from the bridge... and the creek exploded. He hauled in a 7 pound largemouth; I was so afraid it would drop off the hook while hauling it up to the bridge that I was sweating. He was laughing and yelling like a little boy while having the time of his life. He did that repeatedly from a sitting position with his feet hanging over the side of the bridge. When our little ride was over, we carried 8 bass home with the smallest weighing 4 pounds.
I cleaned them, and even fried one for his late Christmas dinner, and put the rest in the freezer. I didn't feel guilty then and to this day I still don't. That was his last fishing trip and last Christmas dinner with us. Up until he died 3 months later, he told everyone about our little car ride that turned into the most incredible fishing trip of his life.
I like to think that, just maybe, someone was looking down on us and had those fish gathered there for that special time together for Dad and me.
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