Recently, I have been afforded the opportunity to return to one of my all time favorite pastimes, Fishing, or as I prefer to say “Fishin’!!!”

It’s something that I enjoyed quite a bit as a boy which continued well into my late teens. Unfortunately, the hustle and bustle of work, family, and parenthood pushed it way down on my list of things to do. 

A few weeks ago a golden opportunity presented itself when I bought an almost new kayak online, at one heck of a bargain. Shout out to Kristen P., wherever you might be. 

That started the ball rolling and lead me down an online rabbit hole of YouTube videos and external websites that rekindled my desire to fish. 

What’s better is it’s seemed to have rubbed off on Mads. She has asked me a few times to take her fishing in the past, but with no trips planned the desire never came to fruition. It would seem that after hearing me talk about it at home her desire grew as well as my own. Before long Mads had asked me for her very own fishing poll, a very specific “Frozen II” rod which she had seen at Walmart.Not being able to say no, I bought her the rod and reel she asked for, after some research and reading of course. 

I was excited to give it to her and handed it over the next time she came back through the door. My initial plan was to spend a week or two teaching Mads the basics like casting and developing skills in our backyard. Much to my surprise, Maddie took to it naturally. After just a few minutes of practice Madison was pitchin’ her line 8-20 yard consistently. 

I couldn’t waste the momentum…the very next morning Maddie and I woke with the sun and went to the lake for some quality father/ daughter time. Out on the water Madison showed the patience, consistency, and motivation of a much older angler. 

After awhile her patience started to wear thin, due to lack of bites and mid morning hunger, but we still had a lot of fun. 

We didn’t catch anything, aside from a sunburn for me and a little bit of attitude from her. But we did establish something new to do together. Since then we’ve only been back out on the lake one time. But, every week Maddie asks me to take her back out to fish and has been begging my dad to come along. With any luck we’ve found something that we can all do together for years to come.

How old were your kids when you took them fishin’ for the first time? 

Share your favorite family fishin’ memories in the comment section below.