This is a great article by Ellison Hartley because I think kids fishing is great. It gives them many skills, along with a safe and fun hobby. You can find the original article here.
Take a kid fishing! I’m telling you, it will have a great effect on you and on the kid!
For one, what is better than sunshine and fresh air? It’s good for the soul. I believe that kids these days spend much too much time inside. Video games, television, cell phone, social media. All of these things make kids sedentary and isolates them from interacting with people and nature.
We live in a world of instant gratification and participation ribbons. Just click a button and you can have what you want to have delivered to your door. You can google and find a hundred answers for every question. Technology has made things too easy. Many kids get frustrated and give up on things easily. If they can’t get it right the first time around or they don’t win, then all of a sudden they want to quit.
It is sad to see the change in the younger generation. Being a quitter and always needing a prize just for trying isn’t true to life. Life is hard, people are hard to deal with and everyone getting a prize takes away from the person who worked long and hard to do their very best.
What does fishing have to do with this? After an afternoon fishing with my nephews, it occurred to me how many life lessons and skills kids can learn from fishing. I’m not just talking about how to catch fish. I’m talking about life lessons to make them better human beings and more successful in their interactions with people and what life throws at them.
Preparation
First thing is preparation. If you are going out on the boat or going to the lake for the day, you better be prepared. You need your tackle, you fishing rods, bait, life jackets, drinks, food. You might need to bring a raincoat if they are calling for rain. You might need to wear a hat to keep your face shaded, and some sunscreen. A fun day outside can lose it’s thrill really quickly if you are hungry, wet, sunburnt or hungry. Take a kid fishing enough and they will learn how to plan ahead and be organized about gathering their things. Take a kid fishing and they will learn the art of preparation.
Preservation
Preservation is an important one. Being out on the water is a good place to teach kids the importance of taking care of the water. If we want to continue to be able to enjoy our boats and go fishing we need clean water. If we don’t take care of the water the fish and other aquatic animals won’t thrive and will eventually become endangered or even extinct. This is easy to teach while fishing. We don’t throw our trash in the water. If we see an opportunity to pick up something that doesn’t belong there, we pick it up, Kind of along the lines of the park ranger mantra, “ take only memories, leave only footprints “. Take a kid fishing and they will learn that it is a privilege to be out on the water.
We abide by natural resources laws and only keep fish of legal size in their appropriate season. We teach the kids that the reason these rules are in place is to ensure the future of the fish population. If we keep everything we catch, eventually there won’t be any left to catch. Take a kid fishing and they will learn the importance of preservation so they can fish for years to come.
Practice
Next, there is practice. Just like everything else in life practice makes perfect. Learning to cast is hard. They might fumble around with the reel or get their line twisted around their rod tip. They might accidentally hook their finger instead of the worm. The only way to learn the techniques is to get out there, wet a line and practice. Yes, a good part of fishing is luck, but it helps to know what bait or lure to use or what depth of water to be in and when. You can read books, or magazines, or google it all you want. If you don’t get out there and do it you won’t learn. Take a kid fishing and they will learn the importance of practice.
Patience
Then there is patience. There is a reason they call it fishing and not catching. Sometimes you just won’t be able to find the fish. The tide might be wrong, or you are using the wrong bait...if you don’t wait patiently and keep taking your line out of the water you will never catch anything. Patience is a virtue that many are lacking in. If you have to learn a life lesson like patience, you might as well do it the fun way, out on the water. Take a kid fishing, and you will help them learn the value of patience.
Pride
Fishing will give a kid, or anyone who does it enough, a sense of pride. To fish, you have to first learn what to use, how to use it, and when. Then there is the patience thing. You have might waited and waited, gotten sunburned and ran out of snacks, but when you finally catch that fish it is a great feeling. Even if there was a little luck involved all your time and hard work has paid off. You will get your picture of that fish, fish, and show it to everyone you can. You will tell the tale like it was Moby Dick you finally caught. That feeling is pride. Pride is something you have to earn but can take with you, even when you get off the boat. Take a kid fishing and you will make them proud of themselves. A lot of kids these days could really use that.
Peace
Fishing will give a kid, or anyone who does it enough, a sense of pride. To fish, you have to first learn what to use, how to use it, and when. Then there is the patience thing. You have might waited and waited, gotten sunburned and ran out of snacks, but when you finally catch that fish it is a great feeling. Even if there was a little luck involved all your time and hard work has paid off. You will get your picture of that fish, fish, and show it to everyone you can. You will tell the tale like it was Moby Dick you finally caught. That feeling is pride. Pride is something you have to earn but can take with you, even when you get off the boat. Take a kid fishing and you will make them proud of themselves. A lot of kids these days could really use that.
Six Life Skills and a Lifetime of Memories!
Preparation, preservation, practice, patience, perseverance, and peace. It will make an impact on them, and maybe even be a tasty meal at the end of the day. So please, take a kid fishing!
There is a big problem in preserving freshwater fish populations. I think a problem with preserving natural freshwater fish populations is the lack of awareness. I do not see a lot of marketing for programs that help with freshwater fishing. I have to go out on my own to see anything about this problem. Most people will not do this unless it is put in their face. Saltwater fishing has made a huge awareness for population and promoting the growth of fish populations. There is even a documentary on Netflix called Seaspiracy. This is great for highlight problems in our oceans. However, there are more freshwater fish then saltwater fish. Even though there may be more freshwater fish, these species are dying out at an alarming rate. The bigger species, like catfish and others, are experiencing declining rates very rapidly. There needs to be more money going into these freshwater programs. These freshwater fish are a source of food f...
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