A love gets passed to new generation

In my early years, I was blessed with a pond and a dock behind our house that allowed me to fish anytime I wanted for freshwater bluegill and bass. I was obsessed with fishing, always thinking and dreaming of fish. Anytime I was asked if I wanted to go, it was a resounding yes.

That interest seems to have been passed down to my daughter, Juliet. Having just turned 4, she already loves getting outside. When I returned from fishing trips, she wanted to see what I brought home while being interested in the fishing lures and poles. For a while, she spent more time playing with old soft plastic lures than expensive name-brand toys.

As a result, I built her a custom pink MHX fishing rod with a shiny Quantum reel in July of last year with the intent of getting her interested in the sport. I presented her the bright pink rod wrapped in purple, and asked, “Want to go fishing with your new rod?”

“Yes!” she replied.

We went fishing at a friend’s house, from a dock over a tiny pond, much like when I was younger. Nostalgia brought back my early days through a tradition that has been passed down for all of time.

It had been years since I ventured to freshwater for fishing, but I never forgot how to fish from an old dock: bread, bobbers and bluegill. Juliet did a bit of chumming with bread, and I could see the bluegill below.

Her innocence shined through the overcast evening skies as I readied a small hook below the bobber. With each drop of a bread ball, the ravenous fish ripped the bait off the hook. A quick lesson in patience wasn’t needed as she was intent on chumming, aka throwing out most of our bread, and enjoying every second of it.

A few more drops later and she had her first fish as I helped swing it up onto the dock. The small, dark-color bluegill was promptly named Fishy the Greg. She cowered from Fishy the Greg, not wanting to touch or do anything beyond look at it with wide eyes as she grabbed the line for a quick photo. Fishy the Greg was popped off the hook, did a bit of flopping around the dock, which elicited quite a bit of screaming from Juliet before she said, “put him back in the water!”

Greg was set free back in his muddy pond. “Let’s do it again!” soon followed to my delight.

“We need to go home soon,” I replied.

“Just one more?” she asked. I knew at that moment she was one of us, an angler, always wanting to know what might await on the next cast.

There were three just one mores that night.

“This is what gets daddy in trouble with mommy,” I told her.

As a dad, I could not be more proud. Anytime I get the opportunity to disconnect her from the digital world and have her connect with the outdoors I will happily do so. I’m glad my parents gave me the opportunity to get outside as much as I did, and it’s the least I could do for my kids.

This story was originally published February 25, 2017 at 4:59 PM with the headline "A love gets passed to new generation."