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My 3yo daughter is catching the bug. Before she was born I found a 4' batman combo so I started her out with that. Then she saw the infamous Barbie combo and HAD to have it. So of course! I've taken her 3 or 4 times. It is fun because she already alternates and decides before we go which one of "her" poles she wants to take (Batman or Barbie). Well sad as it is, she still has never caught a fish. The problem is she is 3, so sitting and drowning worms or PB is not exciting enough. She LOVES to reel, so I decided to try a new tactic next time. Sunday morning I heard the magic words "Daddy, I wanna go fishing!" YES! So I tied a mini spinnerbait to her Barbie pole and grabbed my spinnerbait setup and off we went to Freemont. Of course we had to start out with a hotdog while watching the boats, but once it was done it was time to fish. I was all excited so offered to cast hers out so she could reel in. I grab her pole and go to wing it out there and the little thing slips right out of my hands and into the water! We are standing on the wall, so the water is about 2' below us. I dive down onto my knees and make a grab for it and it sinks, just faster than I could grab it. Next thing I hear is a blood curdling scream from behind me "MY FISHING POLE!" and balling/screaming/people looking chaos begins. While smiling, blushing, and assuring everyone yes - she is my kid, no - we are ok, I am grabbing my rod and praying I can reach hers with it or I was in BIG trouble! Lucky for me, I was able to hook hers on the 2nd try. Whew! Well that was the last time DAD was going to cast for her today! So I let her practice casting and every once in awhile she let me "help" her while I fished my rod. She is getting pretty good really and actually getting it in the water about 1/2 the time. On about my 3rd cast on my rod I hooked up with a feisty little smallmouth about 1/2#. I hand her the pole and she starts reeling like a kid possessed. Reeled it right up to the wall for me to lip. She only lasted about an hour before we were done, but today was a GOOD day. On the walk back to the truck she says "Daddy, next time I want to catch it on MY pole!" Music to my ears...

gort

7/31/2012 8:57:00 AM

Nicely done, Gringo! It's a lot of hard work to try and give your kid some positive fishing experiences, isn't it? Glad you were able to get a fish for her. Did she want to take it home?

Gringo Pescador

7/31/2012 9:58:00 AM

Thanks, the biggest thing for me is to make sure she enjoys every outing. If she asks to go, we go, when she says she is done, we are done. The only fish she has seen me take home is Steelhead, so when I told her we would let it go to get bigger she waws totally fine with that.

oneshot

7/31/2012 10:05:00 AM

well done! i love how excited the little ones get about fishing when a fish is on..

BentRod

7/31/2012 11:20:00 AM

Rock on GP! Way to go.

N E 1 FISSION

7/31/2012 2:39:00 PM

Lucky you, hopefully she will be your sidekick for a long time!!

FishBaitThe2nd

7/31/2012 4:21:00 PM

When are you going to get her on some steelhead ? :P Ahaha nice job gringo !

kzoo

7/31/2012 4:47:00 PM

Well done! Start her off young!

islandbass

8/1/2012 7:34:00 AM

She has fishing spirit. Tip of the hat to you for taking her. My daughter also started with a barbie or princess pole but I don't get to hear those magic words as often (she is now 12 and has other activities taking her time). I created a rod lease for my kids to prevent the rod from being thrown into the water. Looks like you might need it instead, lol. Looks like union has been good to kids this season. Great report and thanks for sharing.

fishtremble

8/3/2012 1:48:00 PM

Thanks for the report. I enjoyed reading that!

fishtremble

8/3/2012 1:48:00 PM

Thanks for the report. I enjoyed reading that!

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