As the Fourth of July weekend is upon us, let’s take a deep breath and enjoy the moment.
As we celebrate the Independence of the United States of America in 1776, and the continued fight for freedom, we shall be holding our family closer than ever on this joyous holiday.
My Fourth of July came early on Father’s Day in June.
My father, Kent Freiberger, 68, who just retired after a few different careers, got the chance to come up and visit me for a few days.
After chowing down on his favorite Leland Cheese Shanty subs on Friday, we got the opportunity to fish on Grand Traverse Bay Saturday, June 15, thanks to Ken Lorincz of the Leelanau Enterprise Printing shop.
My dad and I don’t claim to be fishermen worth a damn. But we can dream.
We have only been successful on a few fishing expeditions from the docks of Houghton Lake where our family used to vacation while I was a kid.
We always had a dream of fishing on the big lake since I moved up to Leelanau County three years ago.
On Father’s day weekend we got to live the dream on Lorincz’ fishing boat.
We started the journey at 5 a.m., making sure to keep the vibes high with the goal of getting one fish. The day presented ideal conditions with less than 10 mph wind on the bay, which provided glass like conditions for most of the morning.
Lorincz showed me how to drive the boat and what depth we wanted to be to be successful.
After an hour of no luck, suddenly a lake trout took the bait and my dad hopped up to the rod and began reeling in the fish. A few minutes later, Lorincz grabbed it with a net, and my dad and I looked at each other with the biggest smiles on our faces.
Once we caught that first fish, we were off to the races, finding the sweet spot up-and-down the coast, reeling in fish seemingly back-toback throughout the rest of the morning.
We managed to reel in several lake trout and a couple of ciscos to make it a once-in-a-lifetime experience for my dad and I.
As my dad ages, I hold these moments closer and closer to my chest as I rarely ever get to spend time with him. Seeing the joy on his face when reeling in those big fish is something I will never forget.
Lorincz was nice enough to even fillet the fish for us. My dad and I went on to have one of the best dinners we ever had just reminiscing on the experience and enjoying the tasty fish that we caught.
Thanks Ken for letting us tag along. From our family to yours, we hope you have a Leelanau Fourth of July that is scrapbook material.
Be safe out there, the water is still cold.
