A Winning Combination
by Andy Williams
My daughter, Jay’Lynn Williams, has fought her way from birth as a 2.2-pound baby to an eight-year-old who loves to catfish.
I am a small-town kinda’ guy. My hometown is a little ole place called Freelandville in Indiana. All we have here is a stoplight and a post office. For as long as I can remember I have been into catfishing. It has always been my go-to thing to do in my spare time.
The more I catfished, the more concerned I came with conservation. I am now a believer in selective harvest and catch-and-release fishing. I try my best to pass the conservation message on to others. I don’t think we should be shoving the idea down other people’s throats but I believe in educating them on the benefits of letting the bigger fish go. If we just keep some of the smaller fish our behavior becomes an example to others and a down payment on greater fishing success in the future.
Early in my life catfishing was recreational. I fished for fun and for food on the table. I currently fish in both of my local rivers, the White River and the Wabash River. The location I fish most of the time is the Ohio River even though it’s an hour-plus drive to get to. It is an attractive destination because of the chance of bigger fish.
When I was in high school I fished in my first catfish tournament. I fished that first tournament in a borrowed boat with some friends. There was something special about tournament fishing and it lit a fire that burns today. I watched a blue cat get weighed in that impressed me. It was about 40 pounds and I knew then that I wanted to learn to catch those big fish.
Each tournament I fish fuels my fire and gives me the passion I have for tournament catfishing. Now, as my daughter gets older she has developed a passion of her own and I have a great family member tournament fishing partner.
In 2014 I was blessed with a daughter, Jay’Lynn. It was a long road traveled to get to where we are today. She was born at 25 weeks and weighed only 2.2 pounds. It was a challenge but she showed early in her life how big a fighter she was going to be. She proved doctor after doctor wrong in their prognostications. Now, eight years later she has overcome many obstacles in her life and finds some of her most treasured moments on a boat, fishing.
Jay absolutely loves to fish. We go to a local lake near home called West Boggs Lake where we do a lot of trolling for crappie and bluegill but her favorite thing to do is chase the big cats with me.
One of my favorite memories to date is her helping me fight a 52- and 47-pound blue cat on the same day. She just kept saying, “I got it. I got it. I got it.”
Her strength and determination motivates me to do better. What Jay loves most about fishing tournaments is taking home a trophy. So I’ve got to be on my A-game to make that happen.
Catfishing will always be important to me. One of the main reasons is the people I’ve met and become friends with. These people come from different states and cities. They are people that I would never have met if I didn’t travel and fish in tournaments in different places. Many of those acquaintances turned into lifelong friendships with people that I now talk to on a daily basis.
More important than that, is the relationship that developed with my daughter. That spunky little 8-year-old girl fought for her life and won, time after time, to be where she is today. Now, I’m lucky enough to have that little girl insist on chasing these whiskered fish across the country with her daddy.
