Ok here's a good tale...

[joedog]

So I'm fishing at the pond. Alot of '4th ward ' (for lack of any other term,'the hood') kids are hanging there due to the beach being there and alot of thier parents drop them all day every day and let the city take responsibility caring while thier probably out drugging and drinking. Anyways many of the little monsters come with fishing poles, (you know the ones that you won't even give away cause they are such crap, rummage sale throw aways) Those who know, I fish daily (addiction) Hence many of the monsters came to know me. After continued 'educating' on how a real man conducts themselves and respect for others property and rites, some of these young men have proven to me thier new beliefs and thier actions now reflect this new found info. (most of thier dad's are in prison, 3 for beating the kids mom's almost to death)
Anyways a couple teachers that fish the pond and I got three of the monsters 'nicer' setups along with some basic terminal junk, plastics and just general fishing stuff. ( Ya I did some house cleaning and most of you know I'm not just addicted to fishing but accummulating fishing STUFF too) Each got a copy of Bass Stratagies by VanDam that I do assign chapters to read and quizes that assure they read what was assigned. (Commitment and follow through)
So now for the tale.

I'm dragging, swiming, hopping a jig with no luck at all, not even a nibble. Three of the boys came over and very respectfully asked me to show them how to jig. So we get them set up and the four of us throw jigs for like an hour and a half. Nothing, NADA, ZIP not even a nibble (me anyways). But I'll confess, one of the reasons a really like jigging is that the feel of every stone, every rock, every dip or fall in depth, every weed or patch of grass and YES that little tick followed by a strong tug when your crawling it back to you. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
They also enjoyed this new found sensation...minus the tick and tug.
So it's getting dark and I'm getting ready to leave. I reel in my jig and I'm giving a few last minute ideas about working a jig to the boys. Got my pole under my arm with the tip going behind my back and the jig hanging over the water like 12-18 inches above water.
Ya you folks know what happened next...... a 18in. 3.5lb. Largemouth jumps out of the water and grabs the jig out of mid air. Sets the hook itself and only made it halfway back in water, mid body and head still sticking out of water. The boys were facing me and saw the whole thing happen with a great shriek by all three. (I SH** my pants, just joking)

Moral of the story...Being *** backwards isn't always a bad thing.
Hope you enjoyed!
Have the very best week you all possible can, PLEASE.

[Jrob78]

That's a great story Joe! Kudos to you for being a good guy and making a difference in a few kids' lives.

Let me know if there is any tackle you guys could use (for the kids), I am afflicted with the same tackle collecting disease. I would be happy to send you some stuff.

[waldershrek]

I'd have liked to see those kids faces!

[bamabassman]

now that i truly a fantstic story man. i bet those "monsters" are really excited now. and yes if it were me i WOULD have messed in my pants. man...i would have LOVED to have seen that.

[kennethdaysale]

Gosh Joe..With all your years of experience I'm surprised you aren't familiar with the infamous "mid-air jig jigglin" technique

Lot's of those "fourth ward" types are just starving to death for some kind of a positive role model. They're not born monsters, it's definately a case of "nurture not nature"....way to go!

[keithdog]

Thats a great story Joe, and I applaud your effort to make a difference in those kids lives. It sounds like your doing just that. Tell ya what, like Jrob, PM me your address and I'll send you a gift bag to hand out to the kids. They are used lures, but in good condition.

[joedog]

Ok I need to clarify something. The reason I explained about the kids was to assure everyone that I'm not some crazy pediphile seeking out young boys.
I'm no different than everyone else here, proven by the extremely generous offers by my friends Jrob and kiethdog. The nice comments are well appreciated and I thank all of you for them. But I'm not the good person you may all of gotten the impression of. I just grew up without a Dad to guide me through the obstacles of growing up so just maybe I'm a little closer to the challenge.
And I may just be helping out cause if I have to deal with these kids on a daily basis I need them to understand what being human is really about. Life isn't or shouldn't be about what's in it for me, rather how can I lead a great life (which I've definitly had and have) while allowing others to do the same.
The trade off...I got the word 'HELL' scratched into my car door at the pond. This was done while I was in clear site of my car. So not everyone is buying into the whole concept of how it's better to improve yourself rather than the easy route of just ruining what others have so thier life isn't any better than yours. Oh, the cost was $545 to paint the door.
A group of the kids came to me and said they WILL find out who did it and tell me. But if anyone here grew up in a hard area,'snitching' is the worst thing they possible can do, so I told them I'd appreciate them whatching my vehicle if I'm there but that's it.
To end on a positive note.
I've convinced some of the kids that thier way into college may just be thru fishing. College fishing teams are growing fast and someday I hope scholarships will be availble just like other college sports.
Thanks again everyone and I'm glad you enjoyed the tale.

Oh Ken, true that I'm not familar with "mid-air jig jigglin" but I definitly got the "A** backwards" part down solid.

[bamabassman]

joe....oyu don't HAVE to explain anything bud. everyone here has a story. oyu STILL are doing the right thing man. no one is perfect....NO ONE.

i also used to do something similier to whatoyu are doing.

when i was in south bama, and i worked for BALDWIN COUNTY COMMISION; PARKS AND REC DIVISION. i was an INMATE SUPERVISOR. we used state inmates to cut the grass and pick up trash on the county roads and cut grass at teh courthouese and parks and such.

well, when we had garbage, we would take it to the landfill or the transfer station right? ok, inmates worked there as well. state inmates are ALWAYS trying to con you into something, get oyu to buy them things and so forth. well i made a deal with them,i told them i would buy them a pack of smokes if they would give me all the rods and reels that came in. i wound up collecting over 100 zebco 33's and rods to that needed an eyelet or 2. so i would take the reels home, clean them up, greese em and oil em and fix the rod. match em up, put new line on them all. the inmates didn't know untill they SAW me doing this........when we would be at a park on mobile bay and there was a kid or 4...i would go into the van and get whatever number of kids there were set ups. i had some hooks to go with them too. bream setups mainly. and ask the kids if they would like a rod and reel for fishing. the kids (mostly black and from the poor parts of town) would scream YES! so i gave them all a rod and reel and told them to dig up for some worms. i also had bobbers for each setup.

when we would all get through and head out, the inmates were very quiet at first. then one of them said softly...mr. john. i thought you were selling those rods and reels and making money of of us, but i see now what oyu are doing. i am sorry for thinking that and want to thank you for what you are trying to do." i jsut laughed and said it's all right. i'm just trying do the right thing. kids need something good in their life and fishing is jsut one of those GOOD things. from then on, i didn't even have to buy smikes, and i got hundreds of reels and rods within a month. then my boss found out and made me stop. or at least he THOUGHT i stopped.

moral is, do the right thing no matter what man.

i am no different thatn you either joe, but we are the same in so many ways man. if everyone did small things like what oyu are doing. the world would be a different place.

and there is one college that IS giving scholarships for fishing now, but i forget which one it is.

and i din't tell this story to make myself sound any better than anyone else. and if i had the chance to do it again, i would. but it isn't available for me to do at the present time.

[keithdog]

Originally Posted by joedog

I'm no different than everyone else here, proven by the extremely generous offers by my friends Jrob and kiethdog. The nice comments are well appreciated and I thank all of you for them. But I'm not the good person you may all of gotten the impression of. I just grew up without a Dad to guide me through the obstacles of growing up so just maybe I'm a little closer to the challenge.

Ok, I'm gonna tell ya something Joe. We come into this world with no choice as to how we end up here. But, we DO have a choice with how we leave here. For each of us, we have the chance to live our lives as God intended us to live, and thats by leading as an example. Growing up without a father to guide you along in life, you had to deal with some pretty tough situations in life. He wasn't there to offer you advice, or for you to learn from his example. But God used that part of your life to teach you many things, and to shape you into who you are. Now you say your not the "good person" we thought you are. But I wonder how many of those boys lives just might be changed because of your willingness to take the time to connect with them in a personal way. To show them the options available in life. To just maybe give that boy who also hasn't got a dad around, someone to listen to and learn from. My guess is, more than you realize. And when the day comes that your gone and off to that great fishing pond in the sky, God will say you were good enough for him. And so will those boys when talking about what you did for them.

[aikenyounggun]

Really a great story, the whole thing. And little things go a long way, and what your giving them is more than a little thing.

There are some really great people in this board, just read the above posts.

[islandbass]

What you're doing regardless of your motive is a good thing so kudos to you for that. It is good for both you and them and in the end it is going to be on them to make those crucial choices. However, maybe, just maybe, that wee bit of nurturing and guidance you so freely gave that they freely received, just might be the kicker that sets them on a winning path in life.

Hats, off to you. You're doing right doing right in my book.

[joedog]

bamabassman, keithdog, thank you for being good friends. (ya I know I'm overstepping but I hope I can call you friends)
Just should add, these monsters are very competitive and the scholarship will require this quality so now everytime 'we' fish we compete. Winner gets to choose something out of the grab bag (tackle bag full of misc. tackle) If I win they get nothing!
Yes I do try to WIN.
But remember when your teaching/competing those suttle things you do that makes your presentation work so well are not always done to the extent they should. Plus I always try to give them the 'favorite' spots or angles to fish.
Today it was a one on one with Hunter. So we started with first fish. I win, Hunter buys me a three musketers candy bar, he wins..grab bag.
Bam, third cast I got a dink. I'm razing Hunter who is along the shore fishing.
He shouts out, "Joe lets measure it".
I laugh and toss it back in and continue to raze Hunter.
He comes over and started with "why didn't you measure it", which I replied, "It was like a nine inch dink" which he replied, " That one doesn't count".
He than explained that Mark (one of the teachers) said that unless it was at least 12 inches it was 'bait' not a catch and I said mine was only nine inches so that's bait not a CATCH. Sneaky little 'monster'.
To make the story short, Hunter is now the proud owner of two terminater finesse jigs. (which came out of my personal stock, not the grab bag. His quick thinking earned more than a grab bag choice)
He turns to me with a great big smile and says, "Joe how does it feel to get schooled by a 13 year old?"
Now thats why I do it!

[bamabassman]

AWESUM JOE!!!! they are learing and loveing it i can tell. and no oyu didn't overstep any boundries....we ARE friends. thank oyu for the compliment. we can NEVER have too many firends.

and did oyu tell them who taught you how to catch dinks? hahahahhaa!!!

[BulBob]

Jigging for bottom feeders when you should have been fishing top water baits.

[joedog]

Originally Posted by BulBob

Jigging for bottom feeders when you should have been fishing top water baits.

No clue what your up to but by the sound of it you don't either.