Bad Ted Fishing is about having fun while fishing with friends and family. Because there are so many different aspects of fishing, there are countless ways to do this. I just encountered a new way for me.

I went walleye fishing with Captain Hans. Since there was only the two of us, he asked if his daughter could go along. She thinks she might want to be her Dad’s mate on his charters. I just came off of our annual father/daughter fishing trip, so a Father/daughter charter service seemed like a good idea.

Our trip was during the heat wave that hit the area, so I wanted to get an early start. Hans has an hour trip to get to the launch, so his daughter, DeeDee, (I hope that is how it is spelled), had to get up at 4:00 A.M. to be at the dock by 6. For a middle school aged youngster, getting up at that time to go to work might present a problem. But not for her.

I spent a lot of years in public education, and I think I can size up a young person pretty quickly and accurately. I have been fortunate enough to know some truly outstanding young ladies and gentlemen. And some who were not so outstanding. So, I quickly had an opinion about her. Let me introduce her to you and see what you think.

You had to be thinking what I know. This is a grade “A” smile from a grade “A” kid. This is not a judgement or just a first impression. It is a fact based on a day of observation. That smile was there all day, no matter what. If she was working, or sitting around waiting, she never stopped smiling. Always ready, she did everything she was told and never, ever whined.

But she was there to learn, and I got to be part of her first day as a mate. Hans explained everything to her. She learned how to let out a dispy diver, how to hook worms, how to take off a planer board, how to bring in a fish that is out there 150 yards, how to net a walleye, how to strip a rod, and how to put them away. She also learned how to pack the boat for travel at the end of the day, and she got to help with the filleting.

Hans is not only a top-notch guide, but he is also a top-notch educator and Dad. Watching him teach her to do things with the precision he is known for was a joy. But seeing how this pair is bonded, her admiration and respect for her father, and his love for and pride in his daughter was a joy to this old heart.

The two of them shared something more valuable than a fishing trip. They had hours in the truck, just the two of them. They had hours together in the boat. And they can have hours of talking about her experience, refining what she was taught, and just enjoying the memory.

Watching them work together, enjoy their time together, was the highlight of the trip. It made the trip.

I realize that the parent/child relationship is not always like that. But fishing is a great equalizer. There were times when the father/daughter relationship was evident, times when the captain/mate apprentice relationship was at the fore, and times when all three of us were just fishing buddies. It does not matter how much money you have, what you do for a living, how old you are, what body type you are, or what your religion is. No societal classification matters. Everybody has the same opportunity to fish and have fun with each other. In the boat, we are just fishing buddies.

Fishing can make our bonds stronger, provided we value the people we fish with more than we value the fish count or size.

I hope I made a new friend on this trip. Fishing can do that for you.

By the way, we did get our limit of walleyes by 10:30 and beat the heat. Those are the second and third really great things about the trip. I know, I say that relationships and memories are the most important thing about fishing, and they are. But why would I go fishing if I did not want to catch fish, too? And for eating, it is hard to beat fresh walleye.

Have fun. Go fishing.