Lucas Hoge released his latest single, “Wishin’ I Was Fishin,'” just in time for Father’s Day, to pay tribute to his own dad. Lucas’ own father is still living, which is why Lucas wanted to honor him with the new song.

“This is one of my favorite songs I’ve written honestly, and I wrote it with my good buddy, Phillip Lammond,” Lucas told Everything Nash. “He’s just a great guy, great writer. I’ve always wanted to write a song for and about my dad, even though I’ve never lost my dad yet, thank goodness. But everybody always waits to do those tribute songs until after the fact, so I was like, ‘I want to bring this image to life.’ I’m always out there thinking, ‘I wish I was fishing with dad right now or with my brothers, driving through the pastures, finding those old ponds and just casting a line.”

Lucas thankfully still has his father, but his co-writer’s dad passed away only a couple years ago, which added a new, and poignant, element to “Wishin’ I Was Fishin’.”

“It was really still kind of fresh on his brain,” Lucas recalled. “They grew up fishing together. He passed on his fishing gear to him. He’s still amazing. He used to be an outfitter in Florida, teaching people how to fish and stuff like that. So it hit really close to home for him. We sat there and wrote, crying and writing this amazing song. I’m very honored to be a part of it.”

“Wishin’ I Was Fishin'” might be the best Father’s Day gift Lucas could ever give his father.

“My dad doesn’t show a whole lot of emotion,” Lucas acknowledged. “I could tell that he was very honored to hear the song. You could tell that he was very prideful about it. Like, ‘Oh, this is really cool.’ He loved it. He didn’t say a whole lot, but you could see it in his eyes. He was trying to hold back the tears.”

Lucas’ dad might not have shown a lot of emotion, but his mother wasn’t able to keep her emotions in check.

“She loved it,” Lucas boasted. “They’re about to have their 50th wedding anniversary, so they’re incredibly proud of what I’m doing down here. When she heard it, she was full of tears, so it was really cool.”

Not only is Lucas releasing “Wishin’ I Was Fishin'” for Father’s Day, but he’s also part of a giveaway, in partnership with Salt Life, which includes a one-of-a-kind custom acoustic guitar, a $300 gift code to SaltLife.com, as well as a chance to be featured in Hoge’s “Wishin’ I was Fishin'” music video.

“I’m so proud to be partnering with these guys,” gushed the singer.”Salt Life is a very cool brand, and has been for quite a while. We just started reaching out to them on behalf of my TV show, [Hoge Wild]. We were doing some stuff, when I go deep-sea diving and sea fishing and stuff. My wife said, ‘Why don’t you partner with Salt Life and do a big giveaway? They were very receptive to the things that we’re going to give away.”

To find out more about the contest, click here. Download “Wishin’ I Was Fishin’ at LucasHoge.com.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Adkins Publicity