A boy became a fisherman tonight!

[John in MN]

I took my 6-year old son fishing tonight, trolling #5 Shad Raps. He caught a bullhead and 2 walleyes, one was 8 inches, his first 'eye ever, and the other 8 3/4 inches. His first walleye came as we went over what he called a bump (hump). As he's watching the graph as we're approaching the hump he said, "We're going up the hill again!" He said he wanted to catch a tarp (carp) since I snagged one trolling last weekend. I caught a small northern and a small bass. I told him he was lucky that he caught two 8 inch walleyes. He promptly corrected me that one was 8 and the other was 8 and 3/4 inches. He also reminded me that he caught 3 fish and I only caught 2. I think I've created a monster. We had ice cream on the way home to celebrate. I think he's hooked.

[Hawgeye]

Only a parent can relate exactly to what you are saying. That is a great night and story that you shared with us. I have 3 boys 8,4,6months so I can truly relate. I love the part where he corrected you on the "8 3/4", sounds like a true fisherman to me!! :)

[Eyez]

Good job dad. With all the distractions for kids these days, it's tough to get them interested in fishing. My son caught his first 4 walleyes about 2 months ago, about 8 inches long. He's only 2 (almost 3), so keeping him interested is tough, especially when he sets the rod down in the middle of reeling the fish in to go throw rocks in the water :)

We all should encourage the love of fishing in our kids, and anyone else that we can influence. Nothing bad can come of it, and our kids will always have the memories of fishing with dad and/or mom when they were little, even if they don't grow up to be addicted like we are :)



Eyez....

[Juls_WI]

That's cool...;-)

Thanks for sharing the story!

Juls

[curt quesnell]

a true fisherman would have rounded the length off to
9 1/2 inches.......the boys got a good start though..

curt quesnell

[Rog]

I can relate to the "Tarp". cute story.

[sib]

Coughing, because I just inhaled some of my morning coffee after reading your comments. LOL, ain't that the truth though!

"go outside and play"
sib

[bob oh]

LAST EDITED ON Jul-27-01 AT 06:24AM (CST)[p]I still get a kick out of taking my son fishing and he's 39!!!!!! Of course, he says Bud and Miller more now than tarp :-)

Bob

[Newby]

Awesome story, my son will be born sometime in the next few days, I can't wait to tell a similar story.
Take a kid fishing!
Newby

[Skis]

Good story. I have a son who turns 2 on Tuesday. We leave next Saturday for a week of fishing. I know I have a hard time keeping him out of the boat in the garage! I know he's going to want to go fishin' with dad too!!

[Grey Wolf]

You know it on taking these kids fishing. If we can get them hooked and keep them interested, it is great. My 18 year old sometimes likes to fish more than I do. He alos like chasing Northerns & Muskies, last week in Canada as much as I like to chase Walleyes, I make him take me Northern fishing. He's the guide, he drives everything. In fact for his graduation this year, I got him a boat motor & trailer. Nothing fancy, but it gets him around. Heck I would have loved my own boat when I was 18.

On the other end of the spectrum, I've got the 4 year old who has some great lines. We are bobber fishing, when the bobber goes down, he say's "My Bobber's Blinking", or like the Ferch he caught. The cutest one was another time bobber fishing, he's got his ice fishing rod with the Zebco sitting in the rod holder of my boat, and he say's "Um I think this ones got one", as I look over to see his rod doubled over. It's all so fun. Then I've got the 6 year old daughter that has a walleye entered in the Resore Fishing contest for kids. They are all getting into it, I think I have scored.

Sorry this was so long, but we all love to talk about our kids.

[eye guy]

I can see it in my head how he was checking the graph then the pole etc... ( I think this I got one) ring a bell.

I took my girlfriends litle boy (5) one day and we got on a school of walleye and he was catching them faster than I could bait the hook. That was great. The only problem was when he caught a few white bass, Between the name bass and hearing my comments when I have them in the past, he is convinced they are bass-tards not bass. And on Oahe sometimes a spot can get crowded. So after a *******s were caught we had to have a little take.... And understand they are actually bass....

just one of the many stories.

[FJH1]

Great story. How can it get much better, taking your kid out fishing, catching a couple, then going out for an ice cream afterwards. My 4 year old daughter still talks about the Northern "Hike" that she caught while trolling for walleyes.

Best Regards,

FJH

[Dave in Mpls]

Sometimes, it truely is a great world we live in!

Keep him hooked, John

Regards

[Bub]

Great story! Wait till he's 14 and semi-regularly kicks your butt on numbers. You'll never hear the end of that (but I wouldnt reade it for anything).

[Aquaholic]

Your story brings back some pleasant memories. If your lucky in a few years he'll be teaching new techniques!

[T-Mac]

Jee... wonder who he learned that from ...Dad??
:-)

[Bret]

Our family just returned home this last week from a week up in Michigan, playing and salmon fishing. Everyday, we had the opportunity to take different people with us out onto the big Lake. My son, 15 years old, is pretty good at setting riggers, dipsies, etc., but he has become really good and allowing our guests to get their turn at setting lines, grabbing the poles on the strikes, and even netting the fish. I have to sit back and admire how grown up he has become. Lesson's have been well taught and hope that he continues to do the same!

[sloopjb]

My three favorite fishing partners are...son age 6, daughter age 2, and wife age "**". The boy has startled me with the ability from a very early age (3'ish) to reach into my tackle box and pull out a new "hook" (he calls everything hooks...from plugs to spinners and jigs) with out even coming close to pricking a finger. He made me very nervous at first...but this boy has got the "touch".

He made his first catch using a Zebco 77 that I won 20+ years ago for selling a lot of something in Cub Scouts. He did everything but "net" the bass. This was during the summer approaching his third birthday. His sister is aspiring to be just like "Bubba" (she's know's his name...but prefers to calls him Bubba).

Be careful not to let "rat race" beat you down to the point where you forget how totally precious children are...they grow so fast! The mailbox will always have new bills, the job will never be completely finished, the lawn will always need cutting. THE KIDS WON'T WAIT FOR ANYTHING!!!! Make them a part of your addiction NOW...so they won't need to find one of their own later (Thanks Dad...it started with you!).

I really let my wife down this week. We are heading to Canada on August 10, and with only two weekends to go...I've got to get things together (repack the boat trailer wheel bearings, get the truck ready with a complete change of fluids, new tires and shocks, etc.). I had to put my foot down and tell her firmly..."No dear...we can't go to the shore for flounder and sea trout this weekend!" I promissed to make it up to her...we'll just have to fish every weekend in September. It will be tough...but I think I can keep her happy! Be Well!

[lost sailor]

all great stories . when my son was a little guy he would see me staring at the depth finder and ask "what time is it dad?". now he's 17 and is either out-fishing me or telling me that we're either too deep or shallow, but he's still the best fishing partner i've ever had.

[Magic]

Boy, can I relate!
I just finished a tournament this weekend with my 7 year old son (his 1st) and we finished 2nd out of 136 boats. Boy did I create a monster. He caught a 14.37 lber the 2nd day, bigger than my biggest 13.25 lber and I didn't catch mine in a tournament. We got a smilely face on day 1 and only caught 4 walleye day 2 but had 38.99 lbs.- Ft Peck is great!
Hope I have a partner for life! I'll never forget this weekend.
All you Dad's, keep up the tradition!

[twinsfish]

I have twin 4 year old boys. Started them fishing last summer with snoopy poles. This summer they graduated to 4 1/2' ultralights. You should try to keep up to them. They love worms, leeches and minnows and any kind of fish, especially the ones with shark teeth(walleyes). Most of all they love to go bishing in my 14' starcraft. Except it doesn't go fast enough for them(only have a 12.9 hp)! Take your kids fishing whenever you can!

[rc]

It truly is good training when you take your 4,5, and 7 yr old s fishing and they are out to do one thing- beat dad. We are crappie fisherpeople and anyone can win fishing those. The high point was when my 4 yr old caught a 6.5lb pike on her little pole. She wanted to mount it but I talked her into pickling instead. She still wants a wall hanger like her older sis, 1.5# crappie, her first. It is truly fun just to watch them. I want to go on trips with each one alone now. Dad daughter time. Its great.

[Heidi]

I read with great interest all the stories, and I have to share my two-year-olds response when you ask him what kind of fish he catches...he says, "Big ones". When you ask him what kind Daddy catches... he responds, "little ones". Not true, but it is still adorable!

Heidi

[Cbellin]

i wish i could get mine to put the rods down. they dont fish waleyes much but love to fish panfish and i cant keep my pole in the water. it is tough but i love to have them in the boat with me.

Chris

[Rooster]

Lots of great stories here. I just had a double rare moment with my 7 year old daughter. She has caught lots of fish over the past few years, but knowing dad was big into walleyes, she dedicated herself to catching them too. She got her first one the other night, measured 14 1/4". I hated to, but had to tell her they have to be 15" to keep on the river we were fishing. She very much wanted to keep it to bring home and show off to mom, but it was a great opportunity for me to expain how we must ALWAYS make responsible decisions, and do the right thing. She understood very well, and released it with a message.... GO SEND ME YOUR GRANDMA! Wonder where she heard that?!