Who is the next Joe Fish

[Portavilla]

Portavilla would like you guys and gals to email us at [email protected] your favorite fishing experience that you had with your dad. We will read these and have a panel of fisherman, LSF staff, Fishing Mn staff & Portavilla select from the final selections who will be The Next JOE FISH 2009.

The winner will be able to fish with Portavilla next year free of charge all season long. The Winner will be selected prior to Fathers Day 2009.

We hope you may know who is Joe Fish 2009

www.portavilla.com

[Portavilla]

Here is a recent entry.

I would like to share my most memorable fishing moment with my dad. This fishing moment isn't memorable in a sense that the fishing was spectacular or we landed some "wall hangers". About a month ago, I rode up to our cabin with my dad to check on things and make sure that all was well for the winter. After a full day of thawing a frozen water line, we decided to head out for some evening walleye action. We were on the frozen waters of Leech Lake around 3:00 in hope of a promising bite. We made our trek across the snow beaten path on my ATV and came to the spot I had marked on the GPS. After getting away from the crowd and busting through a couple of drifts, I fired up the auger. I punched holes through the frozen water while my dad followed with his Vexilar getting a reading on depth and fish presence. After a dozen holes we decided to set up my portable. It wasn't long until a red mark appeared below my jigging spoon. Wham! I reeled up a scrappy 12 inch eye. We continued to have success for about the next hour and then everything shut off. We stayed for a little while after and decided to pack things up and make our journey back to the access.

This trip wasn't memorable for the fishing than rather the time I had to sit and realize the real importance of this trip.

It all started on Tuesday, August 5th. I was at work and learned that my uncle, my dad's brother, had a heart attack and passed away. My mom contacted me and informed me of this tragedy. She also told me that she had not told my dad the news yet and was unsure how to approach him.

My dad's other brother collapsed at an adult basketball game more than 10 years ago and passed away as well. My dad was within feet of him when this happened. He had a hard time getting over this as he is very close to his family.

I immediately left work as I could no longer thing straight and perform my daily duties. I contacted my fiance and she as well left work and we went out to my parents' house. When we walked in the door, there was a noticable silence in the room. We all sat and remembered the great man my uncle was.

At the funeral, I began to realize how this loss affected my dad. It was almost as if I could see what he was thinking. With this unexpected tragedy, there aren't any guarantees on tomorrow.

As we were all grieving and trying to get through this tough time, another tragedy struck. On October 6th, I received yet another phone call at work. This time my dad was working on his lawn vaccuum when it backfired engulfing him in flames up to his neck. He managed to get outside of his shop and roll on the ground to extinguish the fire. He immediately called 911 and was transported to the hosipital. In the emergency room, they were amazed at the story versus the outcome. They cleaned the area and he remained hospitalized for the next couple of days.

While in the hospital, his yard was targeted by vandals who heard of his misfortune and knew he wasn't at home. His story was broadcasted on the evening news channels. The reporters interviewed him from his hospital bed creating an opening to destroy his well manicured lawn. The vandals tore his freshly laid sod from the yard and scattered it on the road. They also stuffed the mailbox with the plush sod before smashing it and tearing the post out of the ground.

My dad has since been on the road to recovery. He has received skin grafts and even though infection set in after the surgery, things are on the up swing. He is able to get around now and his physical scars are beginning to heal.

Although we did manage to ice 25 walleyes that night on Leech Lake, the slow time allowed me to think and realize the real importance. You never know when things can take a change for the worse. You don't know how things are taken for granted until reality sets in. Is this going to be my last time spending overlooked quality time with my dad? If anything, I would like everyone to cherish those little moments with your loved ones as you don't know what you've got until it's gone!

I would like to thank Portavilla for this great opportunity and hopefully we can see you all next year! This would be a great closure to the already passed and tough 2008.

Thank you again,

Ryan Hylla

[bak2MN]

Sad story, sure glad your dad is doing well. It seems sometimes that trgic things in our lives have to trigger us to start to think about "if tommarrow never comes" but that is what spending a little time fishing or hunting and reflecting on things that we say to ourselves "What if". Great story it will be tough to top that one for the contest. But I think im going to go call my dad and ask him to go fishing.