I wound up this morning with the day off, let's go for a drive!
Now while alot of anglers I know look forward to spending this day every year fish with their Dad, this is NOT what I do! You see while I am a father to a GREAT teenage Boy, Sage, we do not fish together.
When I learned I was going to be a father, and to a boy to boot, my thoughts of the years ahead ran crazy. I imagined spending weekends with my son to be, outdoors. I imagined him one day learning to row ME down the river chasing steelhead and even the day when he'd be taking the boat on his own with his buddies.
When his mother and I were first discussing baby names I had friends who were giving their pets names Like "Loomis" and his mother asked if I'd ever consider naming our son after something as tacky as a fishing rod.....Of course not I replied! Now she was or is not a fisherperson, so when she came to me with the name Sage, and was explaining to me the meaning of its origin, all I could think of was high end graphite rods from right here in the Pacific Northwest. ...PERFECT!
This may have been where I went wrong. You see I didn't share this info until after the birth certificate was signed, where after I bought Sage hats, Sage T shirts as well as Sage stickers for the car. I was the only one who appreciated all of this, and my son who by the age of 5 made it clear he was not a fisherman (preferring video games) once told me "Dad, I can't believe you named me after a fishing rod".
Today my son and I are very close, and even though he'll neve chase winter steelhead, I love him as much as any father can love a child. And our drive today? Well we headed east to Goldendale Wa to visit the Stonehenge replica, stop for occasional snacks such as alligator jerky, and just by coincidence, of course, the drive took us right past the Home Valley Grocery store where they do the hottest coon shrimp steelhead bait I know of, was it wrong of me to stop, I mean it was Father's Day right!?!
