The Purple Patch - Missouri Valley College

At Least You Hooked Him
by Todd Bracket
“Ya, I was an athlete once,” Grandpa said, continuing
our earlier conversation. “I never played on a team but
I would play with my buddies,” he carried on.
“Which sport did you play?” I asked curiously.
“Basketball,” he replied with a slight smile on his
face, “and you bet your life I could jump with the best of
them.”
Grandpa likes talking about athletics, having started
this conversation directly after talking about my wrestling.
He was always interested in both my accomplishments and
my failures. And today would be filled with both because
we had just lowered our john boat onto the foggy waters of
our favorite lake, with the sun just peeking over the hills.
You never know how a day of bass fishing will go.
“Start her up,” he said. He was excited to get on the
water. So I did just that, starting up the engine and heading
down the lake.
“That’s good.” said Grandpa, as we arrive at the first
spot of the day. We grab our fishing rods and start casting
towards the brushy bank.
“Were you any good?” I asked.
“Well, I wasn’t anything special, but I would have
to say I was pretty decent,” he replied as he focused on the
tiny vibrations in the fishing line. Both of us, in fact, were
waiting on that distinct “head shake” of a largemouth bass.
“There’s one!” he said. At the same time, he set the
hook deep into the fish’s lip and rocked the boat.
“You need the net?” I asked in excitement.
“Na, it’s a slot” he said. This is always slightly disap-
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