Growing up in the early 60s, most of us country boys didn’t have large reservoirs or the like to fish in.

What we did have was plenty of ponds stocked with bass and bream. My dad, Jack Giles, was a country boy also and we fished with what we had, mostly Zebco 33s and live bait.

Our only exposure to artificial lures came when we went to the local barber shop operated by Mr. G. D. Pool. Every time I went to the barber shop, I would read outdoor magazines from cover to cover.

Most articles were about far away places and people. We did learn that some people fished for bass with artificial baits. I’ll never forget the spring that Dad and I went to Mr. McGee’s pond. Mr. McGee charged some folks to fish but he let us go for free.

While we were fishing, a couple of Mr. McGee’s granddaughters, Kay and Janet, and I spotted a couple of large bass on their beds. One fish was a big old sow. Now we didn’t have Florida strain bass back then so any bass over five pounds was huge. Whatever we tried we could not get that bass to bite.



Dad’s trick play



Presently, we got Dad over to try the old fish. Judging by her size, she was the biggest in the pond. Of course we tried worms and minnows to no avail. Dad had a trick or two up his sleeve. I don’t know if he meant to or not, but finally he dangled his minnow right in front of that sow long enough to make her really mad.

Once she had had enough it was Katy bar the door. She engulfed that minnow and the fight of the century was on.

Talk about bending that old fiberglass rod, it was really stretched to the max. And man was that Zebco reel singing! I don’t know what kept the line from breaking.

Once he got the bass on the bank we had to get it weighed. It had to be the biggest bass I had ever seen to that point. We arrived at the country store and the bass weighed about seven and a half pounds, really big at the time.

The man at the store said that Sears was having a big bass contest that week and that we ought to carry that fish to town. We didn’t know what the contest was about but I begged Dad to carry the fish up there. Sure enough, once we weighed the bass, he took the lead in the contest.

For the next week I waited in anticipation of the end of the contest. Imagine the surprise and excitement that Dad and I had when we received the phone call informing us of his win.



Winner’s take



Christmas had indeed come early. For not only did he win the contest, but also $25 worth of bait and tackle, and that was a whole bunch of bait and lures. For the first time I got to see artificial worms that I had only seen in magazines. We picked from two colors, red and black. We also got some other lures and hooks and such but the worms were the highlight of the win. I couldn’t wait to go fishing again.

Not too long after that Dad and I went fishing at Daleville in Mr. Mosely’s pond across from Grandpa Giles ’house. After tying on one of those plastic worms, I caught a fish on the first cast. After 10 or 12 more bass were on the string, I was hooked on fishing and artificial baits forever.

Probably the highlight of the day, besides being with Dad and catching all those bass, was watching the fish when I got the worm hung on a log. The water was clear enough for us to see about a dozen bass fighting and really tearing at the worm. From that time on I was hooked.

What could be more fun than sharing a great fishing experience and being with your dad at the same time?

Thanks to my dad and to all the other dads and granddads who have introduced their children to the great sport of fishing.