One of the local radio fishing shows in my area always closes with “Take a Kid Fishing”. It has often brought a smile to my face.

If you are too busy to take a kid fishing…you are TOO busy.

As a young child, my father got a job at the Tropicana plant in Lake Wales, Fla. We moved to a small neighborhood on Lake Rosalie. My earliest memories of fishing were when we lived there. My dad would try and sneak me and my mom out for a quick afternoon trip before the thunderstorms rolled in. Our little 16-foot open hull fishing boat was all we needed. It became evident to me very early on that we were “fishing”, and I usually wanted to go “catching”. Looking back, I realize that the time spent together was far more important than the quantity or quality of fish. That’s a tough concept for a 5-year-old. J One of the funniest “stories of lore” that my great uncle loved to tell involved a mudfish, me, and some expletives. If we ever grab a libation together, I would be happy to share it with you.

Kids really don’t care what they are catching. As long as there is something pulling on the end of their rod, they seem to always light up with laughter and smiles. In fact, I don’t know if I can remember ever seeing a kid frown when they caught a fish. There are lots of memories of frowns when “the big one” got away, but it only reinforces the drive, desire and tenacity to stick with it. You can’t catch them from the couch!

I am guessing that there are some parents that may be reading this and saying, “we don’t have a boat” or “I don’t know how to catch fish”. My suggestion would be to hire a guide. Most of the guides I know are parents themselves and have a tremendous amount of patience with children. If your child is small enough and all she wants to do is play in the live bait well…then let her. I think I have made the offer to almost every child I have had the pleasure of taking fishing to drive the boat.

Fishing is a sport for an entire lifetime. There are not many sports that can make that claim. I am grateful looking in the rear-view mirror of ALL the times that my dad, stepdad, my uncles, neighbors and friends would take me and do their level best to put us on fish. It was not always about the biggest fish, or the mess of fish we brought home, but it was always about spending quality time together.

The Internet is my livelihood. Being an evangelist for it and how it has and will continue to change the way we live, work, play and learn is an important part of my job. Therefore, I have a difficult time ever disparaging the Internet and how it will continue to impact our lives. It does pain me however to see small children buried in their smartphones and not interacting with their peers or adults. It also is discouraging to hear about parents that let their children spend hours on end playing video games. If you are a parent reading this, do us both a favor. Introduce your child to the outdoors. Put down the controller, leave the cell phone at home (as impossible as that may sound), spend quality time with your child. You never know what might happen. They may get “hooked” for a lifetime. And if they do, I hope they come back and thank you.