BoatDealerOnline

I write articles about many things, and fishing is a big one for me. But to be honest, I'm not sure this particular article really belongs in the fishing category. Yet it's my favorite fishing story to date.

What made this such a great trip was not the setting or the fish we caught or even the location; it was the company. It was, you see, the last fishing trip I may ever take with my eldest son.

I can remember his first catch at age five. A perch. He couldn't have smiled a bigger smile (despite obvious nervousness at what might come next).

And now he is a man. A 21 year old with far better things to do than to sit in a boat for hours with the old man. But if it was in fact our last trip, it was a great one. Its funny how different we all are with each other, once out of our usual environment. We were no longer father and son; just two guys enjoying the quiet beauty of nature, and a slower pace than the city living were used to.

It was as if we could talk about things that were normally difficult. He told me of dreams he had; his desire to see the world, to make movies one day, to get his own apartment later this year. And I offered none of the usual advice (okay, just a little). I did not judge his plans, just gladly sat and listened to him. I was so struck with how quickly time goes by, I just sat and watched him, enjoying the fleeting time we had.

Fishing and time have always been connected in a funny way for me. Time stops out on the boat. The real world isn't there. Just the breeze and the water and the fish. And I found myself wishing we could just stay there, in that moment.

How ironic that the most natural part of having children is also the hardest: the letting go. Our task is to do the very best job we can preparing them for the day we actually will dread. I'm thankful to have somehow figured out along the way to cherish the time I spend with my kids; it truly passes too quickly.

And so, on the last day, when he pulled that perch from the water, we looked at each other with a look that acknowledged the past but moreover, that seemed to silently agree on our new roles in a new chapter of our relationship. And he still beams from ear to ear when he catches a perch.

For all I know there will be more fishing trips; it may not have been our last. But he's leaving us now, striking out on his own, and it very much felt like the end of a life chapter. And though bittersweet, I am unbelievably grateful to have managed this spontaneous trip.

So if you're lucky enough to fish with your kids, remember to cherish the moments. Teach them, yes, but just sit and watch them too. Time does not, as it turns out, stop out there on the lake.