I like telling people about my life but back in 2012, I remember the first time I remember going up to the Mississippi River to go fishing for walleye and catfish with a slight chance of a northern or sturgeon.

My Family and I prepare by going to Black Earth Angling Co. a fishing store well known by most Wisconsin fishermen as that is a good place to pick up some heavy-duty fishing gear. Like fishing hooks and fishing line spools (also better rods for heavier fish) and there I saw a fishing rod that I wanted and got! ( we will come back to that) I remember the rod clearly as it had an orange stripe splitting the rod in half. ( that was the only reason I liked it)

We pass by the all other farmlands on the way seeing all the livestock and farm equipment. We stop along the way to visit my Uncle Dan. and help out around the farm. We all sit by the fireplace with the livestock fed and making noises and the smell of manure in the air. We suspend the night there and early in the morning drive off to the river. 

When we got to my second uncle's trailer, it was apparent that this trailer was a complete dump and was the worst part of the experience. We often sat by the fireplace by the trailer talking about stuff that I mostly tuned out. (it was mostly adult bantering).

 Sleeping was by far the worst as only three beds and six people were staying in this trailer. So I shared a bunk bed that was so far up that I couldn’t get up if I tried to and as the smallest at the time that was my area. 

Finally fishing day! We loaded up the boat and we went out on the river. We picked a spot and fished for anything that bites. ( mostly walleye was our target) after I hour I was hungry and remembered the snack I stored in the cooler. Not thinking I went to grab it with my pole still in the water. I reach to grab it and hear a snag noise and “whoosh” there goes my pole. ( likely got snagged on a branch as that is the likely thing to happen) most fishermen are aware of this and quickly react. Due to all of the time spent fishing on Wisconsin's vast lakes like lake superior or Lake Michigan which has a lot of dead trees or tree roots in the water. 

After that, we grabbed a new pole mainly used for lakes and fished for the rest of the day until six pm. I caught Four walleye and twelve catfish. We kept the walleye to deep fry and cleaned the fish so they were ready to eat.

Dinner was unforgettable as I had never enjoyed the taste of fish. But what I tasted was so good that I ate most of it. The juicy crunch of the coating on the fish and the butter was so good. It was like biting into your first burger at Culver's when I was a little lad. 

 The next day we went fishing with worse luck as I caught a clam. (still not sure how) we fished till the same time 6 pm and unfortunately, we only caught two walleye and three catfish. So we again made the same delicious meal, which quickly became a favorite. Once we left we traveled back and saw Uncle Dan again! (he loves saying that Culvers has the best cheese curds solely due to the fact they make it with his cattle’s cheese.) We visited a Cheese factory too while we were up there. And then continued on home to Sussex.  Wisconsin will always be my home.