Gone Fishin' with a True Friend

In your life, you're lucky if you have 5 true friends, the kind you can count on in a pinch, no questions asked.  The kind you can call at 2 a.m. and tell you're in trouble and with no questions asked, they're on the way to pick you up.

I'm blessed to have more than 5 true friends.  J.P., Joe and I were with one of them today in his bass boat, fishing, on Percy Priest Lake.

I've known Tommy Campsey for 35 years.  I've know him well for 20 years.  5 years ago, Tommy retired from the Brentwood Police Department as the second longest serving employee in history for the City of Brentwood.  He went from working as a patrol officer in the early 1980's - chasing my friends and me around Brentwood and making us pour our beer out if he caught us at any of a number of parking spots - to the chief of detectives and a candidate for Williamson County Sheriff.  Tommy was and is a public servant in every sense of the word.

When I say that Tommy Campsey is maybe the best person I know, I mean it.  There is no one nicer, kinder and more caring when it comes to his family and friends.  If you are friends with Tommy Campsey, you have a friend for life, no questions asked.  He would, literally, do anything for me and my family, all with a smile on his face.

Today, the day before he leaves with his wife, Lisa, for a week in Destin, FL, Tommy took my boys and me fishing on Percy Priest Lake.  It was a reprisal of a fishing outing Tommy, J.P. and I took a couple of years ago.  J.P. had been begging to go fishing again and Joe had chimed in about wanting to go, too.  Tommy and I set it up a week ago and it's all the boys have been able to talk about.

I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning to check the weather.  I had a text from Tommy confirming we were good, so I got dressed and woke the boys at 5:20 a.m.  They dressed, groggily, and came downstairs.  Jude made them breakfast, which we took with us as we left the house at 5:35 p.m.  We got to the boat ramp on time at 6 a.m. and were in the water by 6:15 a.m.  It was a beautiful, overcast, cool summer morning.

Joe was a little shaken by the speed of the boat as we zipped across the lake and he laid his head in my lap and closed his eyes.  He rallied, though, and was "driving" the boat - steering while Tommy controlled the speed - soon enough.  We raced to the Elm Hill Marina to beat a rain shower, then fished for blue gill under cover in a boat slip.  The boys' eyes lit up as they caught fish after fish, then tossed them in the tank in the back of Tommy's boat.  After the rain, we trolled over by the restaurant at the marina and fished some more.  Here, too, the boys caught a lot of blue gill, most from the same spot next next to the restaurant.

For the finale, J.P. "drove" the boat to a couple of Tommy's favorite fishing spots on the lake in search of bass.  Right off the bat, Tommy hooked a large mouth bass and handed the rod to Joe, then helped him land the 2 1/2 pounder.  J.P. stuck his fingers in its mouth and proudly held it up as I snapped photos of Joe's catch-of-the-day.  That was it for bass, unfortunately, and as Joe tired, we headed back to the boat ramp.

The final tally was 25 fish (blue gill) and 1 large mouth bass.  Quite a haul and a day the boys will remember for a long, long time.

Thanks, Tommy.