Jack O’Brien is 83-years old and still going strong. My father told me stories about him for years, and how both bass and trout feared his hook and rod. Always in my own little world, I had never actually met him, though he just lived over the hill from the family mountain getaway my father built some 25-years ago.
He floated by me in the river and spent a few minutes chatting the Saturday of the 4th of July weekend. He was floating down on a large, singular piece of foam that he had crafted into a fishing float. It is a simple creation, but remarkable nonetheless. He had both a fly rod and spinning rod on there with a cooler of drinks and a tackle box with a good mix of lures. A couple of hooks held supplies like his stringer, and a metal bar inserted through the open portion of the U-shaped craft offered a place to rest his feet in shallow water. He gave me two flies to try on top water and offered a few tips on the stretch I was casting in.
I asked him if he had caught anything (dumb question) and he pulled up a whole stringer full of bass. He said he was keeping them to give to a friend of his that was not able to fish anymore. I told him my father was Earl Bryant, and he told me he was sad to hear of his passing a few years ago, and missed seeing him. I thanked him for that and wished him success for the rest of his float. He told me to call him the next time I was up and he would show me some great holes not many people fish. I’m looking forward to it.
I snapped this pic about 30-minutes later as he floated in front of our house.
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