PAPPAW’S RIVER

By Ricky Haley

Pappaw’s Cabin

Some of the best times in my life came on the banks of the Tennessee River on Wheeler Lake at my grandfather’s cabin.

A place my brother called Pappaw’s River, it was here I learned to fish and hunt. I remember well the early morning fishing trips that would end only when the smell of breakfast cooking filtered down the hill from the cabin to the boat dock.

The cabin was completed in April of 1960 just a couple of weeks before I came into this world. I would spend many of my summer days there with my grandfather, or Pappaw as my cousins and I called him. 

Pappaw’s River

There was always something to do at Pappaw’s river, fishing in the spring and summer and squirrel hunting in the fall. Water skiing and riding the inner tube, and in the 70’s it was an inner tube from a tractor tire with a ski rope tied to it, would fill Saturday and Sunday afternoons when it was too hot to fish. 

If we tired of fishing, swimming and skiing, there was always plinking at targets with our .22 rifles, which would turn into a friendly competition and almost always end with Pappaw winning by shooting dimes at 30 yards over open sights.

I also learned some life lessons at Pappaw’s river. One of these was the lesson of working for what you wanted and taking care of what you had.

One of Pappaw’s rules was he would not pick up after us. If we left our rods, fishing tackle or anything else out when it was time to leave to come home, they became his.

Then the next trip to the cabin he would come down to the dock and fish with his “new” rod or lures he found laying out the week before. 

Sunset From Pappaw’s Dock

But little did I know as a young boy roaming the woods and trails at Pappaw’s River what this place would come to mean to me as I grew older. It became a place for me and my kids to go to rest and relax, a place where my kids started learning how to fish, hunt and enjoy all the outdoors had to offer just as I did.

I also began to realize how special it was, how just going and sitting on the boathouse for a few minutes to watch the sunset was well worth the 45-minute drive.

It became a place to go to heal, to grieve and even to start over in life. When we lost our Pappaw the river is where I wanted to go and remember him and what all I learned from him.

The old cabin is still there and still used some. With work and other obligations, I do not get to go to Pappaw’s River as much as I used to. My brother has built a place there large enough to accommodate the extended family for meals on holidays and special occasions…

…but I will always go into the old cabin for a visit each time I am there, where I can still feel how special Pappaw’s River is.

Ricky

Huge shoutout to Lew’s/Strike King…

…for sending a free packet of fishing goodies stuff to every person who sends in a Fish Camp Tails story. If you want to buy some of their fishing stuff here’s a link to their catalogue. **Truth in all this, I don’t get any moola or product from Lew’s/Strike King for doing the link thing, nor is the rumor true that I strong-armed Skippy into this, sort of…”

If you’d like to send in your own Fish Camp Tails Story, doesn’t matter where you live, fill the form out below with your idea and hit submit and I’ll get right back to you if you are in the same timezone as I am and if the Buffalo Bills aren’t playing when you hit send.

The Next Fish Camp Tails 12/6/20 (the first Sunday of every month) is from…

…my buddy in Georgia, Nick Nichols of Nichols Body Shop in Flowery Branch, Georgia…and he brings us back to Limestone County Alabama…1965…fishing a creek out back…building forts…climbing trees…“Pine Cone” fights…and skipping rocks.

All that coming up on the next 1st Sunday of the month with Fish Camp Tails.

There you go,

db