Little Men

FAOL Community Fly Anglers Online
1

Yesterday after work I drove over to my little neighborhood creek for some decompression and angling.

As I stood in the door of my truck stringing up the one weight I saw them headed my way. Seven and five years old and dressed in standard issue little boy summer attire…shorts, that is all.

“Are you going fishing?!”

“Yep, sure am”

“Have you fished before?”

“I’ve fished a few times”

“Do you know how to put that all together?”

“Yes, I believe that I do”

“Do you have the dealy-thing? If you don’t you can borrow mine”

“That is very kind of you to offer; I think I’ll be OK”

“There is a big old snake down there!!”

“There aren’t any fish down there. (pointing to the stretch of weedlined bank below). There is a big fish down there!”

“I saw a gold fish! it was BIG!” (resident koi)

“Guys, I am going to be casting this thing down there so please be sure to stay back. I sure would feel bad if I were to hook one of you”

“OK, we’ll just go jump in the water a while”

“Oh please don’t do that. It’ll ruin the fishing for me”

“OK”

Then they were off to score Popsicles from apparently grandpa or a neighbor who dotes on them. I last heard them discussing the relative merits of sharing candy.

What I had initially knee-jerked as a big ding in my angling time turned out to be a refreshing break in my initial refreshing break.

2

Heh, sounds like Little “Men” is a pretty good description. Perhaps all is not lost with the young generations??

3

Perhaps not and that is a heartening thought.

I believe that there is hope to the degree that we put effort into creating that hope. I enjoyed chatting with those boys, not talking down to them. Little things can make a big difference at times.

4

At least you convined them not to jump into the water. My recent account did not end so happily. I have three children of my own, but telling, asking, begging someone else’s child not to splash in the water where you are fishing and was there first is a whole different thing.

I just landed a nice fish. A young lad comes up and asked me what I am doing as I unhook the fish. I tell him that there are fish here and that if we are quiet don’t move around a lot that I can catch some more here. He proceeds to take off his shoes and start in the water. I tell him that his mother might not like him getting his clothes all wet and he hesitates for a moment and then stops. He then jumps on his bike and off he goes as I sigh a long sign of relief. Within 5 minutes he returns with reinforcements of another one of his friends. They both take off they shoes and go running through the water 10’ from me. I explain that they are scaring the fish and it is making my fishing very difficult. They repeat to me that they are bothering my fishing by splashing around and I confirm this. They then move 10’ farther down and go in again. I give up and pack up and I am off to another spot shaking my head and thinking how I would deal with the situation if it were one of my kids and not someone else’s.

In the big scheme of things, life goes on. It was still frustrating and now, I don’t talk to the little guys to begin with. If you are a grumpy old guy, they usually just move on. If you are a nice old guy, they hang around and mess with your fishing. Sad, yes, but true at least for me. I never thought that I would turn into a grumpy old fisherman, but now I know why those old guys from days gone by didn’t want to talk to me either.

5

Clay

I feel that situation; whatcha gonna do? At least they seem to have been trying to avoid messing up fishing (ten feet doesn’t mean much doeos it?)

6

Like I said, I have three kids. One of the coolest things that I have done this summer was to take a young guy fishing with me. He is one of my son’s friends. He bought a fly rod and called me up and asked me “what is tippet?” I said, let’s go fishing together. It was a neat experience, and I love sharing what little knowledge that I have with someone who appreciates it. It was very pleasing to see him catch some nice fish and have that “huge eyeball” look.

I was at the river last week, when a father and two girls stopped by to see what we were doing. That situation is neat, because the parent is there. It gave me a chance to encourage the whole family to go fishing and have some fun. While landing one of the fish, I asked one of the young ladies to hold the rod for me while I netted the fish. She looked at her father and he said sure. It was a chance to draw them into the situation.

Kids are great, but there has to be a balance. I’m just glad that rrhyne56 had a good experience to begin with. Many of us turn into grumpy old men all too soon as it is.

Rick

7

I’ve had mostly good experiences when fishing with kids in the vicinity, occasional bad ones. Learning opportunities all. If you can draw them in, they’ll be your buddy. Almost all of them love to touch the fish, and like to be the one to return the fish to the water.

I recall spin-fishing one exceptionally warm day early in the season, quite a few years ago. Lots of boats and shore anglers were crowding into a fairly small backwater off the main river. There were a number of conflicts, since the boaters were casting to shore, and the shore anglers were casting out beyond the boats. Adding to that tension, nobody was really catching any fish. Except me. Every time this little girl would come over and stand by me, I’d catch a walleye. I told her she was my good luck charm. She beamed at the compliment. She’d wander off, but soon return, and I’d catch another fish. Boats were crowding nearer to the spot I was casting. Still, nobody else was catching any. Just me and my “lucky charm”. Eventually, her grandfather came down and talked with me. He’d been standing up on the bank behind us, and he’d been studying my success. He proceeded to tell ME exactly what I’d been doing to catch those fish. Every little detail. He was right! Anyway…she was a great little kid.

OK…fast forward to this past weekend. I was fighting the big carp that I posted a thread about. Cars were stopping on the road to watch. 2 kids were walking by, and decided to observe. This was fine with me. I was in no hurry. One of the two kids started to heckle me.
“Whatcha using for bait?”
“A fly”.
“Really? You caught a fly and put it on your hook?”
“A fly-rod fly.”
“So, you must be really good at swatting flies.”
“Yep, I’ve won fly-swatting trophies.”
“Really?”
I simply smile.
“So, are you gonna eat that all at once, or is it gonna last you all week?”
“I’m going to release it.”
“Really? Can I have it?”
“Yes, you can have it.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
“Uh…I just decided I’m a vegetarian.”
“That’s OK. Its a Grass Carp.”
“Really?”
“No…its a Common Carp.”
“Why don’t you send it to the hungry people in Africa?”
“I can’t afford the postage.”
“How much does postage cost?”
“More than I’ve got.”
“Really?”
OK…this is all while I’m still trying to land the fish. But about this time, I succeed in getting it ashore.
“Wow, that’s HUGE!”
“Yeah, isn’t that KEWL? Would you mind taking my picture?”
“Sure!” He takes the pictures with my camera. “Can I let it go?”
“Sure.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“Alright…THANKS!”

Anyway, he was a quick-witted youngster, probably didn’t respect his elders much…but all in all a pretty good kid. :stuck_out_tongue:

8

When I saw the title of this topic, I thought it would be about midgets.:rolleyes:

I always get the annoying kids who come over and ask to use my gear, who repeat the idea that since I have alotta lures that I can spare them.