Bayou Outdoors | Why Do I Fish?

ARTICLE BY DAN CHASON | PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF BILL PETRUS

For me, fishing started at a very young age.  Early on my main driving force was the competition between my older brother and which was encouraged and driven by our dad.  In the early days, my fishing was pretty limited to pan fish or catfish as that is what my dad liked to catch.  I will never forget the day I got the bass fishing fever and I never lost it.  We lived in rural Alabama where my pastor/father had moved to take a pastorate.  The town had a population of less than 400 and was a typical farming/timber based community.  Most of our traveling was relegated to our bicycles.  My brother and I wore out tires on the very limited asphalt roads and often ventured off-road to explore and to find new secret areas to fish.  One Sunday morning at church, one of the members, Mr. Butler asked me if I liked to bass fish.  I was all of 9-years old and my brother was 11.  It was 1969 and bass fishing was in its infancy.  I had heard and read about bass fishing but in our world they were pretty much trash fish and were accidently caught on a worm or shiners.  I recalled how well they fought and cut up when hooked and told Mr. Butler I really wanted to learn how to catch them.  He offered an invite to his private pond and the next afternoon my brother and I were standing in his yard.  Mr. Butler pulled out all sorts of rods and gear I had rarely seen and gave us a quick overview of how to catch bass.  Remember that we had never used or thrown an artificial lure.  I soon figured out it wasn’t as easy as Mr. Butler made it seem but that first bass hooked me for a lifetime. 

The lure of choice was a Creme straight worm, hooked Texas style and an additional hook added to the rear.  This thing was my ticket and I didn’t have to find live bait anymore to go fishing.  My brother and I spent many a day at that and other ponds as we honed our skills on bass fishing.  I seemed to have a knack for it and found it to be the one thing I could always do better than my brother.  He was stronger, taller, faster and meaner than me but when it was time to bass fish, he had to take a back seat.  Here is what I’ve learned over the years about fishing.

Independence. There is nothing quite like climbing on your bicycle with a Zebco 33 strapped to the handlebars with a pocket full of Creme worms and taking off on an adventure.  The only thing you need is the drive, patience and desire to catch a fish.  Sooner or later you will succeed.  That is a great feeling when no one else is there to guide you as you learn from your mistakes.

Concentration.  I was always a little ADHD in school and was not a good student.  But I turned into a different person with a bass rod in my hand.  It was me and the fish and they were going to lose.  No matter what else was going on, fishing was a driving force in my life.

Motivation. I didn’t need any prodding to get motivated to go fishing.  My every thought was about fishing and my dad found that to be advantageous for him.  If he needed chores completed or his car washed, all he had to do was hold permission to go fishing until the chore was completed.  Worked every time.

The desire to be better.  To this day I try to learn something when I go fishing.  Fishing for me isn’t sitting on a bank and watching a cork bob.  For me it was learning to read cover, duplicate patterns and think like a bass.  I had a gift and luckily I had places where I could go to cultivate that desire.  When we moved to Monroe in 1976 and I bought my first truck at 15, a whole new fishing world opened up to me.  One year later I bought my first boat and Bayou DeSiard became my home away from home.

I would spend most nights after work honing my skills further.  The next year, I entered and won the first tournament I ever fished.  I didn’t have an outboard motor and didn’t have a clue about rules.  I brought over 30 bass to the weigh in and am thankful for a man who told me what the limit was and to throw back everything but five fish.  That could have been an expensive lesson.  But I was young and stupid but that is a memory I will never forget.

Fishing has taught me to be self reliant, confident and gives my self esteem a huge boost.  When its been a rough week at work, nothing and I mean nothing calms me or redirects me better than fishing.  I take a lot of pictures and my wife laughs and says I’m like a kid who just caught his first fish and is showing off to his mom.  That’s pretty accurate and I wish I had the technology to have access to the fish that have ended up in my possession.  I have some old photos and it is funny how I can recall the trip and what the fish was caught on.  

Now as I enter the twilight years of my life, I find pleasure in sharing my gifts with others.  Having 8 grandchildren makes that easier but I find as they grow older, the less I see them and the less they fish.  The old saying “The Lord doesn’t subtract the days from your life spent fishing” is very dear to me.  I find God every time my boat is in the water.  To see His magnificent creation and to enjoy the bounty of His blessings is something I will always appreciate.  Take the time to take a kid fishing.  Share your blessings.  And may you be blessed with long days on this earth….and on the water.