A guide to taking kids fishing

Before I get into my fishing adventure with my grand-daughter Madison, I need to preface this by stating that 

there are a few rules you need to keep in mind and something magical will happen.

First, if you are taking a kid fishing understand you will probably be doing very little fishing. Oh, you will be baiting, casting, untangling lines and hopefully landing fish. But, it won’t be on your pole. So don’t expect to get your line in the water.

Second, keep it fun. If the kids aren’t having any fun, neither will you! When the kids stop having fun, it’s time to do something else. We’ve all seen the kid in a restaurant that has been there too long, is bored and cranky. That’s not what you want the kids to remember about fishing.

Third expect to answer questions, LOTS of questions. It’s ok not to know the answers, the kids don’t either. Just don’t come up with something totally stupid that they’ll repeat to someone else.

Fourth fish don’t always bite, see the second rule. Have a backup plan.  With little kids the attention span goes to nothing if they aren’t catching fish. Feeding ducks can be fun, a hike around the lake, lots of county and state parks have playgrounds near the lakes.  Have a backup plan.

Fifth, know your prey. For first trips you can’t beat bluegill, these little boogers will bite on anything. I’ve used night crawlers, dough balls, bubble gum and bologna sandwiches. The point is they’re easy to catch and lots of fun for little kids. The same ponds and lakes generally also hold small mouth bass, crappie and a variety of sunfish. If a kid lands one of these on a first trip they’ll be hooked for life.

With these suggestions in mind get out there and FISH!

Fishing adventures with Maddie

Fishing with Maddie is always more fun than I expect. As soon as we had a few days without rain I got the question. “Papa, can we go fishin’”, as if I would say no. So we plan out a trip, well, I plan our trip. Living in the Sacramento area there’s lots of places to go. But, I settle on a county park that has a lake and stocks it with trout, catfish and (oh yippee) carp. If you’re a kid, you get excited about carp. Most fishermen however consider them garbage fish.

I spend the evening before texting my daughter about, clothes, lunch, juice boxes, sun block etc. 10,000 texts later I think we’ve covered everything. Then there’s her pole (a cute little blue and pink Barbie pole that doesn’t cast worth a darn) and my pole, tackle, lunch, cooler, folding chairs and bait. Phew, I’m beat, now I need to go to bed.

So mom drops her off, its a couple hours later than when I would normally go fishing. Trust me, any fish you miss at sunrise are worth not having a grumpy kids to deal with.  I got the van packed, poles, tackle, lunch, folding chairs, and extra clothes, go give Noni a kiss and we’re off.

It’s a short drive to Gibson Ranch. It’s a county park with a lake they stock regularly. Plus as we’re driving through the park there’s horse, goats, llamas and a pot bellied pig.  We park and I become a Sherpa. As we walk to one of the fishing docks, I get a lesson in ducks and geese. “Papa, do you know why those geese have a bump on their nose?”  “No Maddie, I think it’s just cause that’s the way they look”. Then she says  “is this goose poop or duck poop?”  “I think it’s goose poop, why?”  she says “They sure can poop a lot”.

We get to the pier, setup the chairs, setup her pole and get her cast out, that’s when it hits me. Barbie rod and reels don’t cast for crap. We can’t get it more than 5 feet from the pier. So, I cast out. Maddie says “I think I got a fish” “No Maddie that’s just the wind making your bobber bounce.”  She say’s “oh, ok. Papa after I catch a fish you can catch one.” (Ah, the optimism of youth).

Soon we have to do a bait check, her worm looks kind old and grey. So, I change bait for her, she thinks the worm threader is cool and wants to try. “Worms are hard to use cause they’re squiggly” “Yes, Maddie they are.”  It heats up and the fishing is real slow, so after a couple hours Maddie decides the playground across the lake is too much of a temptation.  But before we can leave Maddie has to set the worms free, well actually she decided to give the fish a free meal. She takes the cup of worms and walks around the pier dropping the worms, one at a time every couple of feet, until they are all gone.

We go to the playground, then after about an hour she wants to fish some more. I explain there are no more worms but, she knows there’s Power Bait in the tackle box. “Papa can we pleeease go fish from a table, pleeease?”  Fine pick a table, I drag out the poles and tackle box. “Papa the table is too far from the water, I need my chair” Silly me, I should have realized.  Ok, lines in the water and “Papa, I’m hungry can I have my sandwich?” Ok, back to the van to get the cooler, she gets her sandwich and sees the chocolate bar in the cooler. “Papa, what’s this?” she says in the most demure manner possible. I say “that’s a candy bar I brought” “Papa, is there anymore?” she asked. “No, I only brought one, but it’s big enough to share with you”  “Oh, Okay”.  She eats her sandwich waits and says “Papa do you want your candy bar now?” Of course I do.

The fishing is terrible but she won’t call it a day. She drags my stringer out and lasso’s her chair, then she ties up her chair. Then she discovers some chocolate that melted on her shoe. She picks up a goose feather off the ground and heads to the waters edge using the feather like a brush cleans her shoe. Then she comes to me and says “Papa why did they use plastic to make the goose feather?” I explain it’s the quill and before I can finish the explanation, she’s on to something else. We (okay, I) decide to call it a day load everything back in the van one more time. Before she’s even buckled in “papa, can we go fishing, next week on your day off?” So, I’ll chalk this trip up as a success! But we both agree she needs a better rod and reel, I wonder if I still have my old Zebco 303?

Thinking about Father's day and Dads

With Father's day approaching, I reflect a little about my kids and grand-daughters. To be honest like most fathers you do the best you can and hope that the good sticks. I guess the greatest compliment is that even as an adult, my daughters still believe I can fix almost anything. Any time something breaks, leaks, squeaks, rattles or just isn't right I get the call "Dad, the thingy on the whats it broke". Have tools will travel. I tell ya WD-40 and duct tape can go a long ways.

Father's day is also kind of sad, because unfortunately there are so many boys that think being a sperm donor makes them a dad. Let me tell you boys, if you haven't been there, for the tears from a bad dream, the sleepless night from because they're sick and miserable, scared out of you mind when they are out of you sight for a split second, to help them blow out the birthday candles, tie their shoes, bandaged the scrapes, share the hugs, tickles and tears, you're not a dad. Dad is a title that's earned, it isn't given with the expulsion body fluid. Dad's don't necessarily have to share DNA. What they have to share is time, wisdom and most importantly love.

In the time I've spent stumbling around this rock, I've seen precious few "men" that are dads. Most claim the title without doing the work. Maybe it's because my biological dad died when I was young, so of course he remains on pedestal today. But I look at the boys (I call them this because of their mental and emotional immaturity) today that father children then move on. Sometimes they are a part of their kids life sometimes not. In my life I've had a number of men that have shaped my character and idea of what a dad is and is not.
I guess you could say I've had a few "dads". I've been fortunate to have had men care enough to share their time, intellect, talent, patience and caring. To make me the person that I am and I hope that I have become someone they can be proud to know.

To the men that taught me how to, ride, drive, fish, hunt, stand up and be accountable, be a man and most importantly a dad. THANK YOU. I wish you were all still here.