Summer edition: Eat. Sleep.Fish.

Summer. No better time than to do what the t-shirt says: Eat. Sleep. Fish.

One of the bonuses of doing anything outdoors is always the bonuses. Like the bonus I enjoyed last week while I was “working”.

I was at the lake “working” on a magazine article about beating the summer heat and I called on my old fishing buddy Wesley Big Sasquatch Miller to help. He’s got a big old umbrella on the front of his boat that he hides out under when it gets hot — like June, July and August!

He was up on D’Arbonne running a couple of guide trips and told me to meet him up at D’Arbonne Pointe about noon to take a couple of photos of the rig with him holding a big old crappie underneath it. With him, there’s no doubt there will be a big old crappie.

We got our pictures and then, I got my bonus.

He was with a great group of folks who were staying in the cabins there. They invited me over under the shade, gave me a bottle of cold water and a prime seat in front of the fan — all needed items for an old “working” man.

While we were visiting, Wesley asked if I wanted a few fish they had caught that morning and, of course, I said “sure”. Not only did I get the fish, he, Caleb and John Castille, Dusty Odom and Lee Street grabbed their filet knives and cleaned a mess lickety-split!

We even had a race between Lee’s electric knife and Wesley’s straight blade filet knife. At the end of the competition, it was a tie, but there was a winner. That would be me –I got the filets. And had them for supper….without even baiting a hook!

Pat Castille also served with Wesley as a model for the fishing pictures and she even made Wesley look good. And I think she caught most of the fish! And I can’t forget Nicki Odom for keeping me hydrated and cool and saving me a seat in front of the fan while the kids played in the water.

In a world filled with craziness, what a nice day it was to be around great folks who spent as much time helping me as they did taking care of themselves. It was a prime example of why people love the outdoors so much. It’s about a lot more than catching and shooting. It’s about being nice, enjoying other people and living the freedoms that we have here in America.

And, it’s also a reminder of how much fun it is to set up on the lake, put up some tents, sleep in a cabin, fish and fry fish on the boat dock and enjoy God’s bounty. And summer’s just getting started.

It’s the summer’s edition of Eat. Sleep. Fish.