Grandpa Louie fueled his passion for fishing. Who inspired you?

In many cases our heritages as anglers can be traced back to prior generations of sportsmen who set the foundation for our love for our sport and why we feel so strongly about it. I have my paternal grandfather to thank for that passion beginning early in me.

Louis Tecumseh George grew up back east but as a young man moved out to California and began working in the Central Valley oil fields. He had grown up hunting and fishing but as a teenager he lost his father to pneumonia – picked up after getting chilled while goose hunting. (Guess that’s why I stopped duck hunting!)

My grandfather ended up marrying Retha Kleinhammer from Hanford in his 20 and began a successful turkey farm near Lemoore. My grandmother’s family were also all passionate sportsmen, so as a child I saw my entire extended family either hunting or fishing for just about any kind of fish or game there was within 1,000 miles. I grew up going fishing with my grandad and any one of my great uncles.

Grandpa Louie loved traveling, and he and Grandma made many trips down to Mexico to fish for grouper and dorado. The many stories and pictures of big fish after each trip just fueled my imagination about wanting to do the same. Grandpa also traveled to Alaska many times, driving the old Alaskan Highway pulling their trailer. He was a pioneer kind of guy who wanted to see it all. I wished I could have gone on one of those early trips, but by the time I could, he was getting too frail.

He also would go up to Fort Bragg in Northern California and fish the commercial salmon season with a buddy. One year, Grandpa invited me up to fish with them for a week. I was around 13 and in heaven. I hooked a big salmon (24 pounds!) and fought it till exhaustion. I was off planet in my excitement. It turned out to be the biggest salmon caught in the whole fishing village that day, and I became the “kid fishing sensation.” It built a powerful dream to be a good sportsman and angler. My grandfather knew this and he cultivated my dream by constantly taking me fishing – many times for bass in Valley lakes or places like the Kings River slough behind Lemoore.

I cherish the many times that my father, grandfather and I fished. Those trips are etched into the fabric of who I am.

Surrounded by a whole family of sportsmen who grew up during the Depression era, my grandfather modeled for me what I consider a full and good life. Looking back I see a simpler time when sportsmen worked hard to be good examples and serve their families. I was incredibly fortunate to have a grandpa who loved me and worked to build a solid dream in me like the one that drove him. His motto: “Be a good person and a good sportsman!”

Never give up!

This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Grandpa Louie fueled his passion for fishing. Who inspired you?."