Posted on 05/15/2006 7:23:25 PM PDT by girlangler
Age no handicap for 105-year-old fisherman 105-year-old man still hauling in fish By DENNIS ANDERSON MINNEAPOLIS-ST.PAUL STAR TRIBUNE Pulling his driver's license from his billfold, Floyd Doty, Minnesota's oldest angler, on Wednesday confirmed the state would allow him to pilot a vehicle on its roads until 2009 - at which time he will be 108 years old.
Floyd, 105, lives alone in the west-central Minnesota town of Glenwood. A huge northern pike adorns one wall of his apartment.
On Wednesday Floyd was out, like thousands of Minnesotans in advance of Saturday's first day of fishing, seeking a license.
Unsure exactly when he purchased his first Minnesota fishing license, Floyd suspects it was 1929, the year he married his wife of 66 years, Grace, who died in 1995.
"I fish for anything that bites," is Floyd's answer to a visitor's obvious question.
That response came just before he and his 60-year-old son, Alan, stepped into Fish On Bait & Sport in Glenwood in search of a fishing license.
"The year Dad turned 100, the electronic licensing system couldn't handle an age that had three digits," Alan said. "The guy at the bait shop called the DNR in St. Paul and asked what he should do. He was told the license for such an aged fisherman must be free. So we got the license and didn't pay a thing.
"A couple weeks later, the DNR sent Dad a bill in the mail."
When last I checked in on Floyd, he was a mere 102. He owned two cars then, one for cruising and one for pulling his boat.
That craft, a vintage fiberglass tri-hull marketed long ago under the Shakespeare name, is now in Alan's possession. Ditto the cars, the boat-puller a Dodge Omni that rightly could be sold as clean, low miles, only driven to boat ramps.
Throughout his life, wherever there was water, there was Floyd.
And won't be this season - though it's unlikely Saturday's chilly opener will find him on the water.
"The walleye is my favorite fish to eat," he said.
And his most productive lure?
"The Dardevle."
Later, at his apartment, Floyd settled in for the evening only a short distance from the shores of Lake Minnewaska, a lake he has fished many times.
And will again.
But for now, on this evening, there was TV to watch, and soon Floyd would be flicking the remote, looking for his favorite program.
Would it star angler Al Lindner? Or perhaps the equally famous Babe Winkelman?
Not quite.
Said Floyd, "Lawrence Welk."
Looks like someone beat me to it :)
105 is not too old when you are living an active life. There is this youth in all of us. :)
..dam..I hope when I'm 105 they don't find me dragging the neighbors cat out of a pool somewhere when I think I'm fishing.
Doogle
The good Lord sure blessed this guy. And he probably thanks HIM every day.
I remember him in the local news like five years ago lol.
This proves fishing is good for you. I'm printing this so my wife can read it later. :-)
Except for the Lawrence Welk part.
If I make it to that age, I plan to still be jammin' to Foghat. ;-)
I fished a Glenwood area lake a couple of times, years ago on the Minnesota opener. Ran into Floyd at the local bait shop a couple of times, when he was 85.
He's a hoot!
Well, I honestly believe the Good Lord don't count it against your days on earth, those days spent fishing :)
And every year that passes, I long to fish more, worry less about the small stuff, and appreciate -- live -- each day as if it were my last.
I went to visit my 92 year old aunt last week, took my Mom (her sister) to see her. This aunt is such a treasure. She still lives alone (WAY out in the sticks) and grows a garden, cans, tells funny jokes, etc.
I hope I have inherited just a few of her genes. She had a wild turkey fly into a window on her house two years ago, (okay she was only 90 then)and it was severly wounded. She goes outside and rings it neck, then calls her daughter and family to come eat it. She was also mowing her own yard (riding lawnmower) at that time, till her kids finally took her mower away from her.
Then, she killed a big timber rattler in her yard about the same time. Fourteen rattles and one button, she said.
She is a wonderful lady and I am so happy to have the time I have had with her. I'm going to make it a point to go see her(she lives about three hours from me) at least once a month and take my Mother, as I won't have either of them, and the ability to enjoy their wisdom, many more years.
All you Netflix members, rent a movie called "Surfing for Life." Cool pics of 93-year-old surfers getting stoked!! I kid you not.
If you remember some of the original California and Hawaii "beach boys," you'll see what they're up to these days. Mainly still surfing.
It's a very nice movie.
LOL . .
Or ripping my fishing partner's retina outta his eye with my arthritus-wracked casting ;)
what gets me---
They call in to the DNR and are told the license
must be FREE-
Gets a bill from the state later on..
there is some sarcastic note in here somwhere..
In the state where NOTHING is ALLOWED!!
LOL,
Be sure to bring this story up to her every time you come home from Bass Pro Shops, or Cabelas or something, with a much lighter wallet :)
EMIL CORWIN
Cool. I wonder if he remembers the Titanic disaster in 1912? He does not look that old.
I can see the book title on this man's story:
THE OLD MAN AND THE LAKE
Great story. If he lived in Missouri, he wouldn't have to worry about a license to fish at that age!
Your right.
My dad is 84 and still works from 7-3 in the family business. He plays golf every afternoon with his friends and walks rather than using a cart.
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