It's All In Your Perspective

Question what would you consider a great day on the water?? 

A.   Getting your limit of trout and red and being back at the dock by 12.00

B.    You and your fishing partner getting hammered then catching your limit and being back before it gets dark.

C.    Catching a tag red and winning trout and having to make the decision on which one to enter in the CCA tournament.

D.   Taking your son or grandson, daughter or granddaughter and a few of their friends catching sand trout and croaker till the cows come home or their smiles disappear from their faces which ever comes first.

If you answered A then you need to visit some of the local kids fishing tournament held throughout the year to get a fresh perspective on what sport fishing is all about.

If you answered B then you also need to take a refresher course in fishing in between your meetings at Alcohol Anonymous.

If you answered C then you are in the majority of most die-hard Texas anglers out there, me included, who only wish is to catch a trout big enough to even qualify entering in the tournament much less winning it. Unfortunately you would be wrong!!

The correct answer is D. Not only is it politically correct answer but also the best for a wide variety of reason. All of the reasons I hope to convince you in this upcoming article.

For 99% of Texan anglers fishing is not only a pastime but also a passion. In today�s hectic world finding the time to enjoy your favorite pastime seems to be getting harder and harder. Which is the case for most Texas unless you are a certain brother in law that will remain nameless. So for those rare moments in between youth athletics and honey do�s Texas anglers fishing pleasures are at a premium. Translation: Bubba and me will be gone for the better part of the upcoming weekend. Our destination will be somewhere South of Louisiana and North of Mexico between several miles inland to several miles offshore. In case of dire emergency ( hunting dog gets run over) look for feeding birds or the trail of empty beer cans we will be in that general location. Otherwise we should return sometime before work starts Monday morning otherwise use work excuses #33,  my grandma died on my second stepfathers side of the family, should be back on Thursday. This if you haven�t guessed yet this is the not so politically correct answer to out survey. Unfortunately it also probably rings true to a lot of anglers out there.

Now we will try to teach you the Anglers/ Dogs a new trick/ perspective of looking at these prime fishing times. By now you should have guess the politically correct response was to substitute Bubba with one of them youngun�s you have running around the house. Better yet take a youngun, Bubba and a couple of his youngun�s too.

The reasons are as follows:

1.     This will give you significant other a chance to reclaim some of her long lost normalcy. Hopefully in your absence she will be able to relax her nerves and re-grow some of her lost hair. This should also help cut the cost of those Valium and Rogain precipitations. She might be even be able to enjoy a nice bubble bath, no washing the boat or dog is not a true substitute even when you use deodorant soap. This change in your angling ways should also help eliminate some of those 911 calls or expensive emergency room visits. It will also find your wife greeting you with a nice smile upon your arrival home from you fishing trips instead of being huddled in the corner of a dark room mumbling some unrecognizable gibberish.

2.     Next on the list of reason to help even the most die hard angler out there to change their prospective of fishing is probable the most convincing. Anglers for the most part are superstitious by nature. We all have our lucky fishing hat, shirt, lure, rod and reel or fishing destination. Let one unsuspecting; above average fish somehow magically find his way into your boat and that angler will not wash, bathe, or change his fishing tactics for months or longer depending on how hardheaded the angler. We have all heard the old saying beginners luck, which for some unknown reason for the most part holds true, which is probably why someone came up with the saying. Given this knowledge anglers should jump at the chance to take a youngster fishing. This should law of probability should hold true for at least a couple of fishing outings then once the luck runs off leave that youngsters at home and bring along the next siblings. Good rule of thumb on this reason of your newfound fishing perspective is not taking all of them lucky younguns all at once. Better to spread the luck around on more than a few fishing trips. This will not only help stock up those freezer with fillets but will also not use up all your patience all at once.

3.     Helping to develop your child�s hand eye coordination. Fifty percent of fishing is casting and though your youngun may have speedy reflexes in their digits from countless hours on the Ninetindo the rest of their upper bodies are being wasted away. So casting, especially those 20 pound leaded surf rods will build up those spaghetti arms and bony shoulders. 
 

Casting a lure, spoon, or popping cork all day will also help build muscle and is great for developing depth perception and judging distance. This will help once they get their drivers license in judging if they are going to beat that train across the tracks or not.

For those wishing to really develop those hand eye techniques to a fine art they get those youngsters interested in fly-casting. Popping a line all day long against a stiff fifty-knot wind will definitely define those pecks and buff up them boys.

The final test is dodging all those flying lures and tackle on a crowded boat. There is nothing like a triple-treble hook topwater lure flying at ones head to sharpen those cat-like reflexes. Get a boat load of anglers and a bay full of feeding trout things will be flying through the air faster than a fire at a bottle-rocket factory.  Word of caution though to older anglers, remember youngsters have faster reflexes and worse aim so stay as far away from those future fishermen as possible.

Hopefully some of what we have discussed will convince you to take a Kid fishing the next time you set forth upon the water. Not only will this give you a new perspective of a sport that you have grown to love. It may even give you some nice flash backs those younger days when you first started fishing with your father or grandfather. Wish may or may not have been a pleasant experience, but hopefully your will be. Just remember patience is the key to fishing with first timers regardless of their age. This will not only build on some found memories you can share with you off-spring at some later date it can also let you brush up on your lost art of line-detangling and lure ducking at the same time.

Just remember a Kid can�t fight or fire a gun with a fishing pole in his hands. From all the old ladies a the shopping center parking lot walking back to their cars, We Thank You!!!