Take a Kid Fishing

Take a kid fishing and they will learn to be successful in life. As an avid fisherman for over 30 years I have to look back on my life and consider it a success. I credit that success to my passion for fishing. Why? You ask. Well, I am the youngest of three boys of a single mother. My oldest brother was six years older than I was and loved the outdoors. On occasion he would take me with him and his friends to go fishing. We really had a great time. We caught a few fish, but most of the time we just wound up in a rock skipping contest or swimming.

When I was ten, my brother joined the Navy right out high school. His best friend Joe and I had become pretty good friends. Joe would still come by and pick me up every couple of weeks to go fishing with him. I still remember the first time he took me fishing some thirty years later. Joe liked to fish for catfish, but on my first trip with him I picked up a small white plastic grub worm and asked him to tie it on for me. He said "You won't catch anything with that" and began to dig around in his tackle box for his "secret lure." I protested until he gave in and showed me the proper way to attach it to my line.

Joe returned to his tackle box as I headed to the shoreline to present my offering to my prey. On my first cast, I caught the first fish of the day, moments later I had another. Before Joe could even get his line wet I had three fish to my credit, and my own "secret bait". I believe to this day if I went back to that spot and cast out a white grub, I would catch a fish. That is when I really fell in love with fishing.

The reason I believe my love for fishing helped mold me into a loved husband and an idolized father is all of life's lessons I learned from it. Patience for one, what I mean is if you cast your bait out then just reel it back in. You won't catch many fish. The lesson in that is to cast in the right spot the first time, and then wait for the desired response. To translate this I mean you can't just go from job to job or marriage to marriage and expect to be successful at it.

By taking a kid fishing you also teach them respect for the space of others. For example: If you cast your line over the line of another fisherman you both become tangled, greatly decreasing the success for both of you to catch any fish. To top it off they may become angry, especially if you continue to do it. Translation: Teaching a kid to fish teaches them to co-exist with others by respecting their space.

These are only a few of life's lessons that can be learned from fishing. You may know a kid that would benefit for a lifetime from the lessons in fishing, even if you just wind up skipping rocks. If you don't have any kids or are considering having a kid, I would recommend Big Brothers/Big Sisters. They match you with disadvantaged kids in your area, all you do is hang out with them every couple of weeks and teach them life's lessons. I was involved with them as a boy and still hang out with my big brother from time to time.

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