Dave Richey OUTDOORS

Or will no one step up to teach the kids about this traditional sport? Must today's kids become a lost and forgotten generation who will never enjoy the pleasure of catching a fish and spending quality time on a lake or stream?

Are the people of today too lazy or selfish and self-centered to give something of themselves in order that the great and noble pastime of fishing will be carried forward into the future? Why is it that Dad can go fishing, and leave the kids home? Why? I'd like an answer to these questions.

So many questions, and so little time to spend fishing with our children before they grow up, move out, get married, develop a career and as the old man grows older, there will be no one to take him out onto the water for a day or two. Those who do not give, will never get.

My 11-year-old daughter Kim with a 12-pound brown.

Some, and certainly not all, but some adults are sorely lacking in how they handle their parental duties. Others are wonderful parents, provide a good home, but offer spend no quality time with their kids. It's a shame.

My children were fishing for bluegills before they were four years old. They were battling 25-pound chinook salmon by the time they were nine, and catching 15-pound brown trout from Lake Michigan before they reached teenager status. I gave of my free time often, and enjoyed that time spent with my kids.

Mind you, as a full-time freelance writer and fishing guide when my kids were young, I was often busy. But I took them fishing, made certain they were having a good time, let them help me set downriggers, and taught them how to watch for strikes. Along the way, between fish, we talked fishing and I answered their many questions.

Are my kids lucky? I'd like to think so because even back in the mid- to late 1970s, I was doing things with my kids that their friends were not doing with their parents. This fishing business is a one-time opportunity for most parents and their children, and kids who aren't exposed to fishing at an early point in life, are likely never to take it up later.

Take the elderly, kids & women fishing.

I like those "Take Me Fishing" ads on television. In one, an older man   says "Take me fishing because I miss my sons." Another has a child saying "Take me fishing because I'll be married before you know it."

One of the elderly gentleman reminds me of myself. Fortunately, my son David does take me fishing and there are no words to express how much I enjoy fly fishing with him. We go for spring steelhead, fall salmon and occasionally for summer trout. Bluegills figure in there as well.

He's kind and courteous, helpful, and once I'm on some fish he's gone to check out another area. He checks in with me hourly or even more frequently, and he does well on the fish. My vision isn't like it once was, and although I know all the moves, I miss some strikes.

Do I care? Not at all! Being out fishing with a friend or a son isn't about catching baskets filled with fish. It is about fishing, hearing the river chuckle around a log jam, watching the sipping rise of a trout, and enjoying my time on the water with a child, regardless of his age.

It isn't competitive. On occasion, I may catch one or two more salmon or steelhead than David, but there are many more times when he takes the daily "top-rod" honors. I'm happy he does, because my angling career has been filled with many heavy catches and many released fish. I still love to eat fish, but many of my fish are released these days because I no longer need the ego-stroke of a limit catch.

But back to the topic at hand. When are each of you going to take your children or grandchildren fishing? When will you experience that first thrill as a child struggles with a nice fish, a bright smile creasing a young face? When will you give up some of your time to teach the sport you love to your children?

Fishing will not last indefinitely without participation.

There will come a day, and hopefully it's long after I've fished around my last bend, when angler numbers will be in short supply. Will there be a need to stock fish in lakes and streams if no one fishes? It's a question that needs an answer but I don't have one to offer.

Will the honorable sport of fishing die because of angling apathy? Will you be proud to be a part of the slow demise of this grand and honorable sport?

It's time to start taking kids fishing now. Take your wife fishing. Take your children fishing. Set aside your rod, and spend some quality time teaching them how to fish. It may be one of the most wonderful angling experiences of your life.

Fail to take the time now and you'll live to regret it later.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors