Hope Fulfilled

There was always a question when my dad and I would fish a new lake. “Is there anything in here?” “Can we get it to bite?” “Will we just get skunked?”  It was always a relief when we would catch our first fish.  Sometimes only one of us would catch fish.  I remember a time when Dad and I were using the same lure, in the same Canoe, and he caught his limit, and I went home empty handed.  Fishing together was how my dad and I survived the black hole years of the late 80s and early 90s.

During the time I was in Junior High, my life revolved around fishing. During the months from late March through September we went fishing just about every week. It was our escape.  We lived in the Salt Lake City metro area, and so it would get cold and freeze early.  We dreaded the winter, but since we couldn’t go fishing, we would paint fishing pictures, and cast key chains into the snow. Painting fishing pictures was how my dad, Tom Slack ( http://www.tomslack.com ) and I got our start in painting. Now we are both professional artists!

This is a painting I did for my dad, to remind him of those fun days. We went to East Park Reservoir in Utah for a camping / fishing trip back in 1990. I had been there with the boy scouts and caught fish in the stream, but we had never tried the lake. It was 4 hours from home, and a mystery. We hoped we would catch fish, and have fun, but we didn’t know if we would. Luckily we did, and had a blast.