Music to my ears!!!

[johnnyb]

Went up to see the parents in Muskoka on the weekend, with Laker Jessy and my son Caleb, who is 8. Caleb has always enjoyed fishing with me, until this year. I'm pretty sure that I got a little carried away with it, and maybe have been pushing a bit too hard lately. After a couple crappy days of ice fishing, Spring rolled around, and he has been less than enthusiastic about it going out at all.

Recognizing the error of my ways, (and feeling terrible about putting pressure on him about fishing, of all things), I told him that it didn't matter to me if he fished or not. That he would always have a fishing buddy to go with, but, if he didn't want to go, it was no big deal, and I only wanted him to fish if he wanted to.

So, we started out with a boat ride...NO rods! I let him drive a bit, we just puttered about, proving to him that boat does not necessarily equal fishing. The next day, we went for another ride, and this time, he didn't mind if Jessy and I brought our rods, but he didn't want to bring his (which was brand new, and which he was quite excited to receive last Christmas). So, we let him drive again...and he stopped here and there, suggesting that we take a couple casts. The second time we stopped, he asks to borrow my rod and take a few casts. I play it nice and cool, like it was no biggie..."sure buddy....be my guest" On the inside, of course, I'm praying that a lunker nails his lure right now! Nothing happens, but, still, we had a nice day on the water. I'm happy, and more importantly, so is he.

That night, as I'm going to bed, I'm telling Jessy what time we'll wake up if she wants to join me to fish in the morning. Caleb pipes up with "Will you wake me up to go with you in the morning, Dad?" Yessss!!!!!

Woke him up bright and early, and out we went. Had a few nice largies swipe at our surface lures, but they wouldn't commit. I got a nice smallie on the Zara Spook at one point, and handed the rod over to Caleb to reel in....put up quite a nice fight, and he was pretty happy to hoist it for the camera!

When we got back to the cottage, he made sure everyone heard about the fish he hauled in....and proceeded to fish a few more times on the weekend.

I know it sounds like I'm making a big deal out of what should be the most natural thing in the world, but, this was a big relief, and an important lesson learned.

Here's a pic of the bass, plus some walleye that Jessy and I got the previous morning.

 

 

[Cudz]

I have 3 girls and it is difficult to get them interested. I do take them and even when we catch loads of fish they get disinterested after about 15 minutes. Oh well. I try not to pressure them but it would be great if they would want to come then I could fish more often without feeling bad about leaving the family behind.

Great job with the fishing. Looks like a good weekend.

[Victor]

so the addiction grows from this point on !

 

Young ones get bored easily so it isn't necessarily natural that he would love the sport too ... but now, no more worries!

[ccmtcanada]

Great to see your "reverse psychology" working....LOL. You had the right approach, you sneaky guy...haha.

 

At the end of it all, you had a great time out there with the ones you love....doesn't get much better than that!

[Guest Johnny Bass]

I'm happy for you!!! Nice work on the reverse psychology. You gotta give the lad some live bait to get him interested and bring him to places that hold a lot of fish!

 

Good to see the entire family enjoying our favorite sport! Thanks for sharing.

[solopaddler]

You're not making a big deal about it at all, I know exactly where you're coming from.

Seems as though you handled things perfectly, well done!

[1northerner]

[setomonkey]

Very helpful ideas for when my son is old enough to take fishing, nicely done!

 

MIke

[JohnF]

Good save. When our boys were little they both showed some interest in golf. I of course became Earl Woods. The result proves how unpredictable kids are, and how dangerous parental pressure can be. One swore he'd never play golf again, and didn't. The other became a CPGA Pro.

 

Same thing with hockey but the opposite result, except no pro career for either. In sports where we left them to their own devices they were guided mainly by their own competitive natures. One ended up choosing volleyball mainly because his brother wasn't as good as him at it, and the other chose basketball because he could always beat his bro at that, and they both were recruited for their respective university teams in those sports. And so on.

 

We can study all the child psychology we want but the unpredictability factor is always there.

 

The most important thing for us as parents is to at least be consistent in what we do with kids, whether it's discipline or encouragement. Kids quickly and keenly sense waffling and are either confused by it, or take advantage of it. Whatever you do, be consistent, all the way down the line.

 

JF

[johnnyb]

Yup...consistency is what I really strive for...being a young dad, sometimes it's too easy to be his "buddy"...but I'm learning. Luckily, I had a great role model for a Dad, so, I do my best to think about what he would do. Thanks for the nice replies, folks

[splashhopper]

ada boy.. DAD !

[Pete Maina]

Great stuff here. Congrats on that. Sometimes just getting them in the boat with no strings attached is best. Just drive around a while and let 'em do the driving.

 

Kids that aren't all that serious about the need to "catch" a fish are common ... very, very few don't enjoy some time with folks in a boat.

 

Pete