Taking Kids Fishing, sunnies with my son!

Taking kids fishing can be frustrating sometimes, but if you do it right can be such a rewarding experience.  You have these expectations of you and your boy or girl being out of the water all day reeling in monsters together.  I can tell you from experience taking kids fishing is not exactly like that.  I’ve read this so many times and it’s so true, it’s not about YOU, it’s about them.  Make THEIR day a super fun adventure without worrying about the catch.

I remember fishing as a kid, catching bullheads, and sunny, perch, bass at the small pond by our house.  I must have been around 5 or 6 when my Pop would take me.  Grab some left over bread or hotdogs.  Sometimes me and Pop would roll over a few rotting stumps and catch some worms before we went.  My dad wasn’t really a freshwater fisherman, but he knew enough to teach a kid, and I was lucky enough to have someone drag me along.  My passion for the sport all stems from those early trips my dad would take me on.  Looking back I’ll always have fond memories of my dad baiting my hooks and taking off that mean lookin catfish!  Luckily he didn’t mind taking kids fishing.

When my son was about 3 year old, I started bringing him down to the lake to the teach him to fish.  He was too young to understand what we were doing exactly, but he knew he loved playing with these dirty worms!  While I baited him a hook, I’d give him a worm of his own to hold, and would show him what I was doing.  Then I’d cast in for him, and catch a fish, and have him run over and help him reel it in.  After that I would show him the fish, let him touch it, let him hold it, and let him put it back in the water.  From the very beginning he wanted to do everything.  By the end of our little adventure I’d hand him the rod and let him reel in the fish I caught for him.  At the age of 3, he was lipping crappie and perch for pictures.  I knew right then I’d have a fishing buddy for life.

Now he’s 6, and can cast on his own, on his own rod, in his own kayak.  Now he’s asking me all the time to go fishing.  Yesterday I was feeling tired and the heat was getting to me.  I had a headache, and I just didn’t feel like getting the rods rigged up, and kayaks in the water, but if I said no, then what would all my effort had been for the last 3 years.  My 6 year old wasn’t complaining he wanted to play video games, or sit inside the house to watch TV, he asked me to go fishing, and I couldn’t say no to him.  So I dragged the kayaks down to the dock, got us drinks, bait, rods, and all the necessary provisions…

 

Without warning he was into a little school of sunnies.  I GOT ONE I GOT ONE, DAD I THINK I GOT SOMETHING!  He was on the fish, he found the spot.  We each caught a few and he decided this was a good time to challenge his old man to a competition.  So joking around I took a cast near with bobber and told him I was going to catch his fish.  He wasn’t happy about it at all.  Wouldn’t you know just as I told him don’t worry buddy, I won’t catch your OHHHHH A FISH!!!  UTohh, I caught your fish bud!  Well THAT ruined it.  We were tied, and he was VERY upset with me.  I tried to cheer him up, but that’s all it took to ruin a 6yr old’s enthusiasm.  Later at bedtime as we were saying goodnight he thanked me for taking him fishing, “I love fishing with you daddy, even IF you stole my fish.”

He’s getting pretty big now and I feel like the years are starting to fly by.  I’ll be taking kids fishing as much as I can for as long as I can.  I only hope that when I’m old my kids remember all the good times we had, and when I can’t get to the lake anymore, that they’ll take the old man fishing…

Here’s a few more pics of our adventures…