Sharing the love of fishing comes full circle

Sometimes, fishing is not about catching fish. It is about sharing knowledge, experience and a genuine love for the sport with others.

From the time my son could walk, we fished together. As the years passed, Elliott became an accomplished tournament angler and captain. More importantly, he learned that fishing is not about catching fish. This became evident when Elliott began taking our young neighbor, Luke Bishop, fishing. At the time, Elliott was in high school and Luke was in elementary school. Ten years later, Luke is in high school and Elliott works for Shimano (a fishing tackle company) in Japan. Luke has grown into an outstanding angler and an even better young man. He is always thoughtful, polite and welcome to fish with me.

Recently, Luke inquired if his young friend, Tripp Allbritton, could fish with us. Of course, my answer was yes. On Saturday, Luke, Tripp, Diana (Tripp’s mom), and I fished together. Conditions were not optimal. The new moon had tides running 2 feet above normal and a strong easterly wind made fishing especially tough. I was a bit apprehensive about being able to catch fish. Luke reminded me that sometimes fishing is not about catching fish.

Over the course of our trip, we managed to catch a few trout. Most of our bites occurred while casting Z-Man MinnowZ lures on quarter ounce jigs into small creek mouths on the falling tide.

Luke did not fish much. He focused on helping Tripp and making sure that he had fun. Like Elliott, 10 years ago, Luke was sharing his knowledge, experience and love for the sport with a young angler. It was an amazing thing to see. Well done, Luke. Elliott and I are very proud of you.

Contact Captain Greg Peralta at captgregp@gmail.com or call (843) 224-0099.