Posted on 03/07/2011 2:00:41 PM PST by RGrizzle
You would think I could remember this. After all, it’s my rule. That’s why it’s called, “Randy’s Rule”. However, its importance never hits its mark until after I’ve become frustrated beyond measure. My most recent fishing expedition was no different.
“Heston, stop that!” “Emma, will you just please stop casting long enough for me to untangle the other 3 lines?” “Payden, please do not cast so close to your sister’s ear!”
I lost my chance to catch something because of tangles in trees and attention spans shorter than my own fuse. I lost my cool. Ultimately, I lost sight of Randy’s Rule on Fishing with Your Children.
Thanks to these constant tangles, we still had no less than 3,478 crickets remaining. However, God in his own way reminded me about the important principle He placed in my foolish heart.
I noticed a log in the water. On the far side of the log several small fish had gathered. I calmed myself and began to focus on Randy’s Rule on Fishing with Your Children.
“Payden, watch this”, I said.
I grabbed a cricket and tossed it to the other side of the log in the middle of the gathering of little fish. These small fish began throwing themselves in earnest at the poor, frightened cricket. Their frenzy churned the water with enthusiasm. Luckily for the cricket they were too small to inflict damage. The desperate insect scurried across the water to safety on the log. My children stood with a fixed gaze on the cricket that lay shivering from his dance with death.
Behold! A sport was born.
Since we had yet to have an official “bite”, and all of the fishing poles were helplessly tangled, we each took a turn tossing a cricket into a pool of angry, albeit tiny, fish. He whose cricket was taken to the depths scored.
After the throngs of crickets were cast, the contest ended in a tie. Daddy - 1 Payden - 1. We laughed and laughed on the shore of that small lake. However, laughter only came when one very important fishing principle had been honored:
When fishing with your children, it’s never about the fish.
Thank your for not excerpting. :-)
When I have my daughter and wife in the boat trollin the lake, sometimes I even place bait on my hook, but usually, the hook is bare.
“Emma”, I can see...
But “Heston”? Charlie Heston fan or something?
And “Payden”? Whah?
“Do you want to pay now?” “No, I want to pay den”.
Love fishin’ with my kids. Hard to keep ‘em on the hook though...
My son is 33 and it’s still about the hanging out together and laughing at all of our (mostly my) mishaps. The fishing always seems to be secondary.
My Dad first took my brother and me fishing on Puget Sound in 1957 - I was five years old and remember catching that first bullhead to this day. We used a new plywood 16 footer that Dad built himself, along with rods he also constructed - nothing fancy. Mom packed our lunches along with kool-aid in a glass jar with a wax paper gasket - they are all gone now, but the memories will never fade.
When fishing with your children, make sure you have firmly set the hook in them before casting them. Unless, that is, you prefer to tie your own children from bits of feathers and colored ribbon, but that is an entirely different chapter.
Great post. And I think just maybe it’s not only about fishing...
Nothing struck terror into my 8 yr old heart faster than losing my tackle on a submerged obstacle.
Good post.
I like to put sinkers on mine.
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