Good enough to keep

One of the nicest people I ever met in my fishing travels was Homer Circle. “Uncle Homer”, as he was known, was one of America’s premier fishermen and outdoor writers. He penned works for BASSMasters, Outdoor Life and wrote numerous books and hosted numerous fishing shows. He invented many early fishing baits and perfected them with hundreds of hours of fishing. One of his books, “The Art of Plug Fishing” would probably draw a question from today’s younger anglers — “What’s a Plug?”

He recently passed away at 97 years old, just a few months after taking his last fishing trip.  Homer always had time to talk, whether to a veteran pro angler or just some rookie outdoor writer like I was many, many years ago.  I got so see him almost every year at the BASSMasters Classic or some outdoor event for about 20 years and he always stopped to say hello.  And now, as the world says goodbye to him, there’s no more appropriate Sunday morning memory to share of this kind fellow than the “Fisherman’s Prayer” that he wrote and made famous:

Homer Circle admires one of the fish baits he invented

God grant that I may fish
    until my dying day;
And when at last I come to rest,
    I’ll then most humbly pray;
When in His landing net
    I lie in final sleep;
That in His mercy I’ll be judged
    as good enough to keep!