'Papa Bud' makes sure every kid, grandkid, and great-grandkid gets the chance to fish

I have always advocated how important it is for families to enjoy the times they have together. It seems like most of those times are very limited. Time certainly does not wait for anyone, and whether we like it or not, the younger members of our family grow up and start families of their own. It seems like the opportunities to get together become few and far apart.

My wife and I have been blessed with a pretty large family. We had two children of our own, and throughout the years we were blessed with 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Our families live in Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado, so you can imagine how difficult it is for us to all get together. But when we do, it seems like we always manage to get some serious fishing done. That is just fine with me!

Our daughter lives in Zionsville. They have a really beautiful retention pond in their back yard, and it has plenty of fish just waiting for an artificial lure or juicy nightcrawler or redworm. Over the years, we have caught several Largemouth Bass, Bluegill and even a few Tilapia.

Well, last weekend we celebrated Mother's Day at our daughter's, and as you can probably imagine, we not only celebrated all the mothers who could attend, just about everybody managed to do a lot of fishing.

Needless to say, there was an abundance of younger anglers there who were anxious to start fishing. That made "Papa Bud" extremely happy. Most of the younger anglers there were given their first fishing pole shortly after they were born, and as they grew up, I gave them plenty of fishing advice.

As a matter of fact, I gave their parents their first fishing rod and reels much the same way I did to our two children when they were born.

I realize not all children will develop an interest in fishing, but I decided I would take it upon myself to make it available to them. I made certain I had their parents’ permission to make it a family tradition from Papa Bud that they would all receive a nice rod and reel combination shortly after they were born.

As you can imagine, I have kept the fishing industry in business over the years. I told the youngster's parents if the child did not take an interest in fishing, that was perfectly fine. But I have been rewarded several times as I got the pleasure of watching just about every one of them as they caught their first fish.

I am also proud to say that my two children are both married and have families of their own. Staci and Scott both love to fish, and all my grandkids love to fish. My grandsons are both fishing as much as possible and doing quite well fishing in bass tournaments.

Conner has a nice bass boat, and Caden fishes with him as a team. Plus, he owns a kayak and is a tournament director for a kayak fishing tournament trail. My oldest grandson Colton is also a pretty skilled angler, and his three children are starting to love fishing.

As you can tell from some of the photos posted with this article, we are a fishing family. I firmly believe that the family that plays together stays together. There are so many things the younger generation can become involved in that are much more detrimental to them than fishing.

Do I regret taking time to present my kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids fishing tackle and baiting their hooks for them or repairing fishing tackle for them? Absolutely not. I hope they continue to pass the tradition of fishing on for generations to come. Just look at the smiles on their faces. I am proud of each and every one of them, and I hope they remember Papa Bud after I am gone!