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Mike Dallas -> RE: Jimmy Dallas (3/5/2009 2:36:05 PM)
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To the members of this board:
On behalf of the family of Jimmy Dallas, I would like to thank you all for your kind words and support.
My Grandfather's one true passion in life was fishing and all that encompasses it. As many of you have noted above, he was not only an avid fisherman, but he was also very involved in the conservation/promotion of the sport.
I am by no means as passionate about fishing as my grandfather was, but I do love to fish, and I attribute this to him introducing the sport to me at a young age.
I believe that the happiest I ever saw him was the day I caught my first Steelhead. I am also fairly certain that his other grandchildren (and his great-grandchildren) got to experience that same look in his eyes when they caught their first fish as well.
I do not think that I fully understood just what my Grandfather meant to the sport in Northwest PA until I went Steelhead fishing with him.
As I'm sure all of you are aware, when the fishing is good, it's quite crowded and it can be very difficult to find a spot to "squeeze in" without intruding on another fisherman's space. But whenever I went with Grandpa down to Walnut Creek, at least 3 or 4 fisherman would recognize him, and offer to let him "squeeze in" next to them.
Many would come up to him throughout the day just to say "hello" or to "buy a button". There were several times when he would run out of buttons on a given day, and when the fisherman who wanted to purchase one found that out, they would just give him the money for it and tell him to give them one the next time they saw him.
As my grandfather got older, his love for fishing increased, even though it became more and more difficult for him to get down to the creek. The last time that my wife and I went with him in November of 2008, he could not even hold a rod due to a carpal tunnel problem in his right hand, but I think he had more fun just watching us catch fish than he would have were he able to catch them himself.
It is completely speculation on my part, but I believe if I could ask him, he would agree with me on this: Jimmy Dallas wanted to leave Steelhead fishing better than what he found it. In my mind, and the mind of many other PA anglers, that is exactly what he did.
Mike Dallas (Son of George James Dallas, Grandson of James "Jimmy" George Dallas)
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