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President’s Message Fish Stories

Anglers get a bad rap for telling tall tales. Why do you think that is? Are they prone to exaggerate when recounting fishing adventures? Or is it simply that those adventures are so grand and outlandish the listener can’t help but be skeptical? Maybe it’s a little bit of both.

When I was a kid, my dad recounted tales from fishing trips to Canada with his dad and brothers. But the ones I remember aren’t about the fishing, they were more related to the mishaps along the way. My dad would tell these exciting and exaggerated stories so often that they had titles. Like “Caught Between the Island and the Shore,” where a great storm blew up, and a giant turtle (which I think was probably just a rock) knocked the boat plug out, causing them to race back to the boat ramp just in time to avoid swamping the boat entirely. Of course, this didn’t happen without some other antics. In one of my dad’s fish stories, a tackle box fell open and all the lures latched on to my dad’s leg to avoid falling in the water. At least that’s how he told it when my sister and I were kids. He’d pass time on road trips to go fishing with us by telling these and other fishing stories.

I think it’s human nature to tell stories. We want to share our experiences with others, even if they weren’t there in person. It makes the experience that much more special for us, and it helps us remember our adventures, even if we do exaggerate a little bit.

I have a whole arsenal of stories from my outdoor trips. Sometimes they might impress someone, or maybe they’ll help me relate to a newer angler who is frustrated by a snagged line or a slow day on the water. How about one that might do both? Like when I was 16, fishing with my dad, and we fished all day I only caught 2 or 3 fish. But one of them was, and still is, my personal best Largemouth Bass, weighing in at 9 pounds 6 ounces. I’m still proud to have caught a fish that size in Missouri, and a fiberglass replica of that fish hangs in my office to this day.

It doesn’t take a big fish to make a memorable day or a good story. Recently, I was in Florida for a conference. If you work in conservation, you can’t travel to somewhere like that and not go on at least one outdoor adventure. So, one afternoon, our team went to the fishing pier.

My boss Wally fished with us for what he said was the first time in 40 years. We all caught a few fish, and I think this picture speaks for itself. Wally was thrilled to catch something for the first time in decades, and I was glad to be a part of it. I’m sure it’ll be a story we both continue to tell.

What are your favorite fish stories? Even if you don’t fish, you can share an outdoor experience with someone and come back with a great story to tell.

So get outside and make some memories. Maybe I’ll see you out there.

Zach Morris President, CFM

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