A MAN CALLED UNCLE JIM . WE WILL MISS YOU .

It was a very sad day this week when I received a message from my Mom telling my that my fishing inspiration, Uncle Jim had passed away in hospital .

As I sat there thinking of what to say to my Aunt Janet who was by his side , I became totally overwhelmed with all the wonderful reasons why I called Jim Adams my uncle. Jim was a wonderful caring and giving man who always thought of everyone else before himself .

My family and I first met Jim not long after we moved to Canada when he was visiting our neighbors one summer afternoon . I don't remember how we got on the subject of fishing but once we did that remained the favorite topic for Jim , my Dad and I for years to come .. Having fished in England for smaller coarse fish I was totally taken in by Jim's stories of huge Pike and Bass which could he explained could be caught easily casting wooden plugs..

Some of my favorite memories were sitting in a 3 meter aluminium boat with my Dad and Jim making our way down the Salmon river near Belleville casting Rapalas under over hanging trees for whatever we could catch . I still dont know how we fit so much tackle and junk into the boat and still had room for the 3 of us.. We had some great fishing and some great laughs ..

Jim had nicknamed me "Big Ace " during a fishing trip to Temagami Northern Ontario . I was dealing cards and simply said "big ace bets" .For some reason Jim thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. He was literally crying laughing for 30 minutes . He had such a great laugh which we will all miss.

I have written about Jim here on my blog as he , like my Dad were a true inspiration for me in many different areas of my life but especially when it comes to fishing ...I remember we would often drop into the local tackle shop on our way to our fishing spots and Jim would try to convince the owner that he should let us take his new Ranger bass boat out for a spin ... Even though Jim was a great salesman that unfortunately never happened . I told Jim not too worry as I would buy my own bass boat some day ..

Jim helped me with my goal of owning my own boat by getting me my first real job at a local moving company doing office moves on weekends .. This lead to me eventually getting summer jobs and working every night after school at the mover's warehouse.. My strong work ethic and good references from the job Jim had got for me helped me land an apprenticeship in tool and die making which has served me well to this day

With the money I earner in those early days I was able to finally buy my bass boat .. Once i had that I never looked back and have been fishing like a mad man ever since :).

I would like to thank you Uncle Jim for your help and inspiration and hope that I can help and inspire some young anglers here at Exotic Fishing Thailand so they too can enjoy some great times fishing with their families and friends like I did with you and Dad..