Landed a Real Keeper!

Before June 30, 2015 all my spare time was pretty much taken up with fishing. You know how it is. Thinking about fishing, researching fishing, fixing stuff for fishing, buying stuff for fishing, trying to write about fishing and sometimes even actually going fishing.

Oh how things have changed. I guess I still spend all of my free time doing stuff that's related to fishing. I just don't have that much free time anymore. But it's all good. You see, I don't have as much time to spend on fishing these days because I'm busy spending it with our 5 month old son, Nolan. Since the last time I wrote for this blog, we landed a real keeper.

Watching Saturday morning fishing shows with Baby Nolan John

Life ain't all baby and being a dad though. The funny thing is, Nolan has become as much an excuse for me to buy new fishing stuff as he is something to focus on besides fishing. I mean, I really didn't need to buy a fishing kayak, but sooner or later Nolan is going to need something to take out onto the water, right? Hell, my wife even suggested buying a new pop-up ice fishing shelter last season because the baby "will need something to keep him out of the cold."

 

Smallmouth bass fishing in my, I mean Nolan's, new kayak

Also, since everyone wants to meet the new little guy, we've taken some trips that we definitely wouldn't have gone on if it weren't for the baby. It was just an added bonus that our recent trip back to Alberta to introduce Nolan to our friends from Calgary brought us to a province with some safe, early season ice fishing. If the current weather here in Ontario is any indication, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the only ice fishing I get into all season. Thanks Nolan!

There's safe ice in Alberta!

Of course I dream that Nolan will one day love fishing as much as I do. I am fully aware of the life lessons that fishing has taught me and the respect and love for nature that I gained while enjoying my favourite hobby. But I also know that Nolan may just as well find his own pastimes and interests and I can only hope that he finds something that he is as passionate about as I am about fishing. In the meantime, I'll keep justifying my borderline irresponsible purchases with the idea that my boy may want to use my stuff some day (I'm pretty sure he's going to need an ice fishing flasher pretty soon).