“Help, my line is tangled again!”
I often wonder how many times my poor daddy heard those words come out of my mouth on our fishing adventures. He usually had the patience of Job, but every now and then, my antics were more than he could take.
Luckily for him, my sweet sister was much calmer and more settled than I was. Unlike me, she was satisfied to stand beside our father on the bank of some long-forgotten lake and quietly watch the bright-red bobber on the end of her heavily baited cane pole.
Not me! I had to do it all by myself. Independent does not even begin to describe my personality back then. It was as if I had some kind of pushing and pressing, inner mandate to walk the circumference of every watering hole in Mississippi to find my own perfect fishing spot.
Let me tell you; I did just that. But every single time I set out on my own, it never failed that sooner or later I had to cry out for my daddy to come rescue me and untangle my line from a nearby tree, bush, or hidden tree stump luring just beneath the surface of my brand-new fishing spot.
It also never failed that my sweet daddy came right over to rescue me, sometimes running to prevent me from falling in deep water or putting my eye out from jerking on my hook way too hard. Granted, sometimes his patience was more evident than others.
But he never, ever left me in my self-made mess. He always came and rescued me, untangling my line again and again – so I could get back to the important business of fishing. And fishing is really the main business of Life when you think about it, especially fishing with the Father.
But for those who have not found time or opportunity to fish with the children they love, the Mississippi Department of wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) offers an entire slate of youth fishing rodeos for the kids in our state.
All anglers ages 15 and under are invited to participate in these free fishing events that are spread throughout the state at designated rodeo lakes fully stocked with catfish. The youth fishing rodeos are also scheduled on Saturday mornings throughout the year, with registration for each event usually running from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m.
Along with the obvious fun of fishing, educational activities are also planned for participants that focus on environmental conservation and boater safety conducted by MDWFP staff, various law enforcement agents. biologists from the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, and volunteer anglers.
For anyone interested in an upcoming fishing event, including two youth rodeos scheduled for this Saturday, June 21, at Lake Lowndes in Columbus, Mississippi, and Jefferson Pond in Fayette, Mississippi, look online at mdwfp.com/fishing-boating/youth-fishing-rodeos, or call MDWFP’s Fishing Rodeo Coordinator, Sherry Hazelwood, at 601.432.2206.
So, pack up those tackleboxes and make plans to take your favorite kiddos fishing soon!
And when you hear them yell for the umpteenth time, “Help, my line is tangled again!” – smile as you think of me, my sister, and my dad.
