3/7/2019 My dad’s first bass in 43 years

The low’s finally climbed out of the teens and the high’s into the 50’s so I made pop and invited Landry to go fishing with me at Tippah Lake. 

Landry was all in so we piled up in “Big Daddy’s” truck and headed down highway 30 stopping only for snacks and gas outside Oxford. We arrived at the Lake an hour later and paid four times the required $5 admission because we didn’t have change and the lake manager was out.

We started by fishing one of the day use areas near a ditch and then moved to the creek channel adjacent to the boat ramp.

Here, on the bank of a state fishing lake in Mississippi, my dad caught a bass for the first time since he was 15. He was throwing a spinnerbait from one side of the creek to the other with a fast retrieve.

We then moved to a pier back toward the lake entrance, and Landry decided to fish a little more, throwing a pig and jig along the current and old piers. No luck. We finished our trip fishing along the riprap at the dam and left for Oxford to catch Landry’s soccer game where I was scheduled to make my coaching debut.

The bite was slow and the wind crisp, but three generations of Bartons fishing together thrilled my soul and warmed my heart. I don’t know how many times I’ll get to do that with dad and the kids, but once the opportunity slips away, it’s gone. So we did what we all try to do. Seize a moment. Take advantage of an opportunity. I’m so glad we did.