One for Darwin

[SoulWinner]

My father worked for the Florida Marine Patrole until he retired in 1995. He told me that many years ago on the Escambia River two guys put in for a day of fishing. As they proceeded up the river at WOT the steering cable broke, throwing the passenger from the boat. He would have been fine if the propellor hadn't struck him in the back of head. At least he didn't suffer.<br /><br />Another case dad worked was one were a guy took his young son out to throw a cast net from the bow of his small aluminum john boat. Although the man had done this many times without mishap, this time on one of his casts, he followed the net overboard. His non-swimming son jumped in to try to save him, both drowned.

 

[wikelam]

Re: One for Darwin

wow talk about bad luck

 

[oddjob]

Re: One for Darwin

Thanks Soulwinner, I guess I'll have to leash myself to boat or refrain from that activity. Drowning in your own net sounds like a high probability if you wrapped up, even if you are a good swimmer. The older I get, the more cautious I become and the less fun I have....I now have two little guys in the boat with me. Thanks for tip.

 

[Mike NZ]

Re: One for Darwin

Hi Oddjjob, I fish with 2 young fellows, I find the safty margin now a lot bigger and the life jacket is on a lot more too It's great bonding time though.

 

[oddjob]

Re: One for Darwin

Yeaauuup! Only time I get to fish is when I put a sandwick in their mouths. They are 10 and 7 and all they do is catch bass.. I call them the bass-masters and I'm their guide. My youngest caught a 4.5 lb black bass along with 7 others in the 1.5-3 lb. range. I've yet to catch a bass that big! I tell them that I get partial credit for all the rigging and handling until they learn to do it themselves. They say "Ok dad, just hurry up and fix my bait!"

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: One for Darwin

Yea oddjob one thing I have learned is , one should never expect to get much fishing in when taking younger ones fishing. But it is always worth it for the look on there faces when they catch a good one. Its ALMOST better then catching one your self.

 

[SoulWinner]

Re: One for Darwin

I think I know why kids catch fish. They fully BELIEVE that they are going to catch fish See, they don't "know" about tides, moon fazes, times of day, wind direction etc. They just know that when you throw the hook out, you catch fish. That is I am considering regretion therapy before my next fishing trip

 

[oddjob]

Re: One for Darwin

Hey guys, a few weeks ago I took them to one of our neighbor hood lakes. In one or two casts ( with artif.worms) they both had bass on! Both fish went air born! and I will never forget the face of the young one as his fish kept jumpin... Just a sh!t eat'n grin and and a confident laugh from him as our eyes met simutaneously. The little pro.. I'll never forget it, I'm sure.

 

[JamesCoste]

Re: One for Darwin

I normally take my 8-year-old son fishing, but he got in trouble in school and my wife said no fishing so I didn't go either. After two weeks of this, I decided to take my 3-year-old daughter who hadn't been fishing much. I hooked her up with a bream buster and some shrimp pieces and she caught pinfish in the Gulf one after the other. This was great for about 1/2 hour until I decided to use one of the smaller pinfish for bait for seatrout. My daughter cried when I hooked the pinfish right above the eyes with a good-sized hook and cast it behind the boat about 30 yards or so.<br /><br />God blessed us and as soon as the bait hit the water, a 19-inch trout took the bait and I reeled it in. My daughter immediately said "Daddy, do it again." She really understood that those fish were just bait for the ones we get to eat. <br /><br />I was extra cautious because she couldn't swim so we both kept the life jackets on "just in case". We only fished for about 2 hours but had 3 keeper trout that day. <br /><br />You should have seen my son's face when we came home with more keeper trout than I had ever brought home (I'm not real good at flats fishing yet)... my son didn't have another "bad" day at school the rest of the year.

 

[Mike NZ]

Re: One for Darwin

My wife & I homeschool the kids so fishing is part of the program. When the weather permits were out studying nature. Weve had encounters with all sorts, sharks,whales,dolphins large schools of fish so thick the water looks alive. Seals and of course all the hook ups of creatures of the deep that we never managed to boat. And the ones we did. My 9 y/o & I were moaning at having to bait up the 7 y/o all the time so he started to do his own. The baits floated off as soon as they hit the water he was hopeless, so he finally gets one to stay on all the way to the bottom and bang!! Dad I think I got one. Looking at the bend in the rod I figure he snagged the bottom. Are you snagged? No Dad I think its a fish, so he cranks up a snapper that fed the family of 8. Suffer the children..

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: One for Darwin

The kids have all the luck. My 6 year old caught a huge sheepshead on a 7 dollar Scooby Doo rod from WallMart. It took a while with the drag set loose, but it was landed.<br /><br />Ken

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: One for Darwin

My Uncle Jack used to love taking me fishing, cause I would tell him about stuff that I had read about fishing techniques and the like by reading dads assorted fishing magazines (I was one of those kids that read early, and remembered everything I read)<br /><br />But I was also a smart azz, and Uncle Jack liked to trip me up now and then<br /><br />Rod bent over double, I thought I was stuck on the bottom ... then the bottom started heading for England. after a lengthy battle, I brought in THE UGLIEST fish I had ever seen ... a huge oyster cracker, and Uncle Jacks eyes lit up, Oh MY GOD, you caught an OYSTER CRACKER, its HUGE!!!<br /><br />Oooh!!! is it good to eat???<br /><br />No no, you cant eat these, they are too rare ... wow, I cant believe you caught one<br /><br />He whacked its head a few times on the side of the boat and threw it far away from the boat.<br /><br />Doesnt that hurt it? give it a concussion or something?<br /><br />no no, you have to do that, the gills are right behind the head, its like CPR for a fish<br /><br />oh ... ok!<br /><br />Later that day, at Smitties, the local bayside bar/ restaurant, some old salt asked me how I did fishing<br /><br />in my boastful six year old voice, I loudly proclaimed, I did GREAT, I caught a HUGE OYSTER CRACKER<br /><br />Whole dammned bar started laughing AT me, not with me, and my ex favorite Uncle Jack couldnt look at me, he was laughing so hard<br /><br />I learned suspicion that day, lol, I never trusted him again!<br /><br />

 

[JGREGORY]

Re: One for Darwin

They are the ugliest fish God ever created.

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: One for Darwin

lol, you fish Jersey there jgregory, you know how "rare" those dammned things are!<br /><br />yanno, if you stick the wood end of a bait knife in its mouth, it can splinter it up ... impressive for a fish that wieghs only a few pounds

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: One for Darwin

yah rite (my noojoy-zee accent ) like i'm sure uze guys are tryin to pull the wool over us southerners.... we've had oyster crackers down here since i wuzza tiny tater tot. but i ate so many when a kid i quit eating em altogether. well, i guess its partly cauz my wife don't like seafood. no more oyster soup, no more oyster crackers. and those little stopsign crackers were pretty cool way back when

 

[timothyl]

Re: One for Darwin

My daughter who was 9 at the time caught a 21/2 pound bass with string and a hook that she found on a river bank and tied to a stick about a foot long. Sure made others on the bank feel great as nothing else was biting.

 

[oddjob]

Re: One for Darwin

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: One for Darwin

yall grit eatin sutherner WOULD think them thar stop sign lookin thangs is oyster crackers (toad fish down south)<br /><br />every red blooded american knows an oyster cracker is round like a walnut and just as hard!<br /><br />and they have been since before GRANT TOOK RICHMOND!!!! <br /><br />

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: One for Darwin

lol