Sarley: The best way to get kids to enjoy fishing

I hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful Father’s Day. I wish I could have gone fishing with my kids to celebrate.

My wife and I have three kids and one grandchild, 2-year-old Emmy. The sun rises and sets on that little angel.

My daughter, Michelle, is an all-around good outdoorsperson. She can handle a rod and reel with the best of them. A 5-pound smallie is her best fish to date.

My older son, Steve, has the least amount of interest in the outdoors, but he has the most amount of interest in hanging with the old man. That is a big plus in my book. He tries hard and it pays off. He caught a 15-inch crappie last year that beats my best catch by at least four inches.

My younger son, Dan, is a hard-core angler. I’ll head to a pond with Danny and we won’t say a word as we fish until the sun goes down. He is just like me. He is a fishing machine.

I have taught all my kids how to fish. I haven’t ever pressured any of them to do anything. I believe that if a young person is going to want to fish, they will make that decision on their own and no amount of parental pressure is going to force them to do it or to like it.

Forcing a child to go fishing is only going to turn them off to the sport. I always hoped it would be my kids asking me to take them fishing rather than me asking them. I was always so excited when they would make the request.

You know, I am always astounded when I hear those crazy PETA lunatics complaining that fishing is a harmful activity for kids. When my three kids caught their first fish, obviously with my assistance, I waited to see their reactions. They all giggled and smiled with glee. They were happy and proud of their accomplishment, without any prompting from dear old dad. They held an innate knowledge that catching a fish was a good thing and didn’t need an adult to explain that to them.

I recently had the opportunity to go fishing with my little Emily and her dad, Dan. We went to a little retention pond behind a local CVS store. We brought Emmy’s Disney princess rod and reel and a packet of worms from Wal-Mart.

The pond had a gentle, safe shoreline and its water was filled with an incredible amount of 4-inch bluegills. Every time Emmy’s bait hit the water, the little bobber would get pulled underneath the surface. Every time, no kidding.

Believe it or not, Emmy got the hang of setting the hook and reeling in the fish in quick fashion. She took her first fish out of Dan’s hand without any prompting and flipped it back into the pond. Good girl.

Now here is the important lesson. After 20 minutes of what seemed like catching the same fish over and over again, Emmy’s interest departed. She was ready for blowing bubbles or playing catch or some other activity. She had caught enough fish.

Now isn’t that a heck of a lot better than not catching anything at all? I wouldn’t waste my time chasing tiny gills, but this was not about me. It was about Emmy. She was as happy as can be.

My wife has absolutely zero interest in going fishing. I know it is because of the way her father taught his children to fish. He demanded total silence from his kids when they fished with him. He believed that one of the reasons for taking children fishing was to learn the art of patience.

Baloney, I say. Kids can learn patience in school. Fishing is all about having fun and hooting and hollering and having a good time, plain and simple.

We got home with Emmy and she immediately asked her mother if she would like to go and catch a fish with her. I think Dan and I did the right thing and taught a wonderful lesson.

• Daily Herald Outdoors columnist Steve Sarley can be reached at sarfishing@yahoo.com.