The Family That Fishes Together Stays Together

Back at the beginning of February I ran across and great website fishinghistory.blogspot.com hosted by Dr Todd Larson. I E-Mailed him and asked him if I could do a posting on his blog and graciously agreed to letting me do a posting. After that I asked if he had the time to do a posting for my blog and he said yes. The following is what he wrote.

The Family That Fishes Together Stays Together

by Dr. Todd E.A. Larson

I grew up in a family that fished before they could walk, so when I had a child of my own, I wanted desperately to introduce her to angling as soon as I possibly could. After all, she was going to grow up in a household surrounded by hundreds of fishing rods, reels, and thousands of lures. 

But as I watched my daughter grow from an infant to a toddler, I was at a loss to figure out how to accomplish the very act of turning a child into a child angler. I knew I wasn't going to force it upon her, as that rarely has positive results. So how to get her interested in fishing?

The answer, it turns out, was simple, at least in my daughter's case. I introduced her to the wonders of the outdoors first. While I was fly casting from shore for bass, she would wander the shorelines looking for tadpoles. When we were out in the boat, I let her feed the sunfish off the bow. And most of all, when she wanted to hold a rod and actually fish, I tried to make sure that she would catch a fish. 

I can't emphasize this enough. Children who fish MUST CATCH FISH or they will tire of it and never want to fish again.

Of course, for me this meant a whole lot of fishing for sunnies and perch, and not very much chasing after trophy smallmouth or pike. But the sacrifice was worth it--my daughter grew to love fishing very much.

Lots of kids love fishing. How do you keep the love of angling alive as they grow older? That remains the most important question. I think of this as my daughter grows older. Will she still be an angler during her teenage years? When she goes to college? 

She is growing before my eyes and I suddenly realize how ridiculous these questions are. 

As I watch her cast, I realize I cannot worry about tomorrow. I must concentrate on today, and remember that my daughter has a love of angling that is deep and abiding. That is something I am truly thankful for. 

I will, of course, encourage her to continue her angling journey, but without forcing it on her. Because if there is one thing I have learned it is that a child's attraction to fishing is natural, and all an adult has to do is simply encourage and support them and they will turn into lifelong anglers.

There is no simpler truth than a family that fishes together stays together.

http://www.pixelarchitecture.com/todd/fish01.jpg

http://www.pixelarchitecture.com/todd/fish_june_2010_11.jpg

http://www.pixelarchitecture.com/todd/asa_fly_fishing.jpg

Dr. Todd E.A. Larson, Publisher
The Whitefish Press (http://www.whitefishpress.com)
The Classic Fly Rod Forum (http://clarksclassicflyrodforum.yuku.com/)
The Fishing for History Blog (http://fishinghistory.blogspot.com)

If you have anything interesting to post please contact Dr Todd Larson at the above websites. He also listed three other interesting sites.

Thanks again to Dr Larson

Randy Wright