Kids and fishing

[spinncognito]

A friend's father took me fresh water fishing often when I was 10-11 years old and I have never looked back. I have a 15 year old daughter who would tag along with me but was never into it. Growing up here in Gloucester and being surrounded by water and with my own Dad being a commercial fisherman, there is little doubt as to why I am the obsessed individual I have become. Never had a boy to influence unfortuneately.

[Flaptail]

George, your a great Dad, I watch you as you teach Pete how to run the boat, like the other night, youre a great teacher and more importantly to Pete is you are his friend, he can count on you as do Nick and Colin. There is mutual admiration there, a deep bond built by giving them your time even though it may not have been doing what you wanted to do.

I don't have sons, I was blessed with two wonderful and wonderfully different daughters, I never believed in forcing them into anything I like to do. To me forcing them to become a "mini-me" is just totally wrong. They need to become thier own persons with thier own likes and dislikes and as a parent our job was to fgure that out and foster growth in what is that they seemd to want to be involved in. That train of thought is so prevalent in our family that no one is named after anyone else on my side of the family, from birth you are an individual and the first thing you get is an individual identity starting with your first and middle name.

Parenting is a tough job, one should never make it tougher on themselves or thier children by forcing them to be or do something they have no interest in. And the greatest gift you could ever give them is your time and show them your willingness to share that time regardless of the endeavor.

That they will always remember and respect you for and most importantly love you for it.

[Big Water]

This is a great thread, the guy who clued me in to it, I first met on Cutty when he was there fishing with his dad and brother. It was nice to see them all together. I then mentioned it to my son and daughter when I saw them at Thanksgiving that year. Over the years my son and daughter have fished with me a dozen times at the most. They enjoyed it but not enough to do it more. I started them young, taking them to NJ in Dec. to catch the last schoolies before they left for a long winter, they were 5 and 6 at the time. I have taken them wetsuiting, they both liked that adventure and caught fish besides. My daughter has been to Block with me, and my son, with me to Montauk. They know fishing through me. They are in their 30's now and have approached me about the three of us going to Block next spring for a week of fishing. We have talked about going to Montauk the next year and then Cutty. They want this to be a yearly thing and spend a week with me fishing. There is no pressure on my part, I know that doesn't work in the long run. I can fish 24/7 but need to tone it down a little and play off them and see how it works! Something to look forward too, and to you guys with younger kids it can never be too late. Gary