Take them fishing
For anglers young and old, few things match the excitement and reverence of the opening day of trout season. It’s a chance to shake off the cabin fever and hit the waters with the tools of their trade, whether it’s a fly rod and waders or a supply of spinners, PowerBait and a trusted rod and reel.
It’s especially cool to see my dad get so excited about trout season. Growing up, my brother and I heard countless stories of his trips to Whites Creek in Somerset County with his brother and various friends.
I vividly remember how he would spend days preparing for the camping trips, packing the truck full of supplies and food. Dad and his buddies would set up camp on the river bank and enjoy the camaraderie, and tough it out through whatever weather conditions came their way.
Some years, they camped in several inches of snow and other years when the humidity has been uncomfortably high.
Every angler has those fishing hot spots. They’ve also got a hundred stories to tell, and twice as many memories to recall.
Mine, admittedly, don’t involve many trout season stories. I’ll take a day on the lake fishing for bass and crappies any day over a day on the river.
That being said, I do have fond memories from last spring when dad and I hiked down through thick woods to Glade Run near Highpoint Lake, also in Somerset County.
I’ll preface by saying I didn’t catch anything. But it was the first time I’d legitimately tried my hand at fly fishing. (One previous time in my youth that resulted in my dad’s broken fly rod doesn’t count.)
He was patient, showing me techniques to entice the hopefully hungry trout below. I couldn’t quite get the hang of it though. While he reeled in several nice size rainbows, I went home empty handed.
But that fishing trip, like countless ones before in my youth and adulthood, meant something special to me.
My brother and I spent a majority of our childhood fishing with mom and dad. We fished all over, from Dunlap to Highpoint to Ohiopyle, and to a few small mountain ponds and lakes. More than any other childhood experience, I remember those trips and time spent with family. Thanks, mom and dad.
I remember catching a 28-inch pike when I was 8 or 9 in what used to be a beautiful Deer Lake. I remember several trips out on the boat and the excitement that came with netting a feisty pickerel and a “big ‘ol” bass.
I remember laughing and smiling for pictures, catching salamanders on the banks, snacking on spam sandwiches on the boat and listening to the bullfrogs sing their bizarre song while we fished well into the evening at a family friend’s lake.
Whether it’s your kids, or your nieces, nephews, cousins or grandkids — take them fishing.
They’ll treasure those moments and memories. And it’ll teach them a whole new skill that, when fostered with patience and reverence, can last them well into their elder years, as it does with my own elders.
Take advantage of the PA Fish and Boat Commission’s mentored youth trout fishing day on Saturday, and make this a spring/summer full of fishing memories and experiences for the kids in your life, and for yourself. Take them fishing.