Gone Fishin’ with Kids (How to Take Your Kid Fishing and Still be Friends)

By Joe Perrone Jr. and Manny Luftglass

Gone Fishin' with Kids (How to Take Your Kid Fishing and Still beFriends) was born of the parental frustrations of author Joe Perrone, Jr, who failed miserably in his efforts to get his kids to fish with him.  Aware of his friend, Manny Luftglass's success fishing with his own children, Joe suggested that maybe, together, they could write a book to help other parents to avoid a similar plight.  The result is a work filled with useful, practical information about fishing with children.  Some of the topics covered include: When to start; where to go; what to fish for; "the first experience"; even what food to bring!  The writing is light, simple, and to the point, and the book is filled with personal experiences, photos, and cartoons.  If you're a parent, and you want to take your kid fishing, and you don't want to screw it up - BUY THIS BOOK!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joe Perrone Jr.
• Release date: Dec 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393314042

Joe Perrone Jr.

Joe Perrone Jr is an author whose diverse background includes a stint as a sports writer with a prominent New Jersey newspaper, the Herald News, and several years spent freelancing as an advertising copy writer.  He also has had short stories published in the Mid-Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide. In addition to his writing, he spent ten years as a professional fly fishing guide on the historic Beaverkill River in New York's Catskill Mountains.  Nearby Roscoe, known as “Trout Town USA," serves as the setting for Joe's last four Matt Davis Mysteries: Opening Day, Twice Bitten, Broken Promises, and Deadly Ransom.  Roscoe is a place to which Joe returns as often as possible to fish his favorite waters and visit with long-time friends.  The first book in the series, As the Twig is Bent, is set in Manhattan. Joe has also authored two non-fiction books, Gone Fishin’ with Kids (How to Take Your Kid Fishing And Still Be Friends)and A “Real” Man’s Guide to Divorce (First, You Bend Over And . . .), as well as a coming-of-age novel called Escaping Innocence: A Story Of Awakening. In 2014, Joe formed his own independent publishing/consulting company, Escarpment Press, which provides various publishing services to “indie” authors, including editing, formatting, and cover design.  Each year, Escarpment Press publishes one or two books under its imprint. The most recent release was Manhattan North Narcotics: Chasing the Kilo Fairy, by former NYPD detective Jake McNicholas. In addition to his writing, Joe enjoys hiking, cooking (and eating), listening to music, fly fishing, and fly tying.  He and his wife, Becky, have lived in Hendersonville for nearly 20 years. His websites are: www.joeperronejr.com and www.escarpmentpress.weebly.com. His weekly blog can be found at: www.joetheauthor.wordpress.com.  Readers may reach him via email at: [e-mail].

Book preview

Introduction

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  Then, of course, he made the water and FISH!  Ever since then, man has spent an inordinate amount of time trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to catch the critters.  AND, for almost as long, he has tried to share his passion for the sport with his offspring—with results almost as disastrous.

There were many reasons for writing this book.  For example, not one of the children of one of the authors fishes—we’re not telling you which of the authors that is, but hopefully we can teach you not to make the same mistakes he made.  In addition, we would like to help you make your particular reason for taking your child fishing work for you.

Maybe you’re only interested in creating another excuse for you to go fishing, or perhaps you’re hoping to build a better relationship between you and your child.  Whatever your reason for taking your child fishing, we can both assure you that it is far easier to screw it up than it is to succeed!

Sure, we can tell you how to do it, where to do it, and even when to do it, but what good is that knowledge if the ones you wish to do it with don’t want any part of it?

What can go wrong, and how you can avoid making those fatal mistakes are the real reasons we wrote this book.  After all, how could one of us who had so much to share, screw up so badly?  How could he have alienated his own kids when all he wanted to do was share his time and favorite hobby with his offspring?

Before you go jumping to conclusions, let us say this: Perhaps nothing he could have done would have changed the outcome with his own children, but we think we’ve done a pretty thorough job of exploring the mistakes he and others like him have made, and we’re eager to share our knowledge with you.

Jack Fallon, in his article entitled Fishing With Children, published in the March 1990 edition of Field and Stream, wrote: If you try to mix serious fishing and fishing with children, you and your child will wind up miserable.  Think about that.  YOU may be very serious about catching Moby Dick, but your kid only wants to be with you, and, maybe catch a fish or two.  That is the central theme of this book.

Remember, not every young person has to be a Little League star, an Olympian, or a prize-winning BassMasters champion for you to be happy with him.  Nor should you demand such accomplishments from your child.  The strong bonds between adult and child need not be achieved with such pressure, but can be gained through the low-keyed activity of fishing.

The same parent who yells at a child for dropping a football pass, muffing a ground ball, or falling on the ice while attempting a triple watchamacallit will probably also be the same parent who scolds his child for losing a fish!  If you are that parent, perhaps fishing with your youngster is not the thing to do.  BUT, if you wish not to be that parent, read on and profit from our experience.

In addition to helping you get it right where we got it wrong, there’ll be lots of how to—simplified, of course—as we walk you through the dips and curves along the wet and wonderful road to the world of fishing.  Just because you’re a beginner doesn’t mean you have to wear a sticker on your forehead that labels you as one!  We’ll introduce you to basic terminology, and explore the various types of fishing available where you might live.  Don’t get nervous though, we promise to adhere to the old principle of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid!).

Okay, now that we’ve told you what this book is, let us tell you what it is not!  Gone Fishin’ With Kids is not a be-all, end-all manual detailing the do’s and don’ts of child rearing.  Neither is it the COMPLETE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FISHING, filled with over 10,000 full-color illustrations!  It’s simply a book to teach you how to take a kid fishing—nothing more, nothing less.

We’re not going to tell you how to actually fish, either.  We’ll leave all the fancy techniques of the actual process to TV videos, magazine articles, etc.

However, there are three things we want to acquaint you with that will make you feel like you kinda know how to fish, and that will at least superficially keep you from appearing to be one of those ignoramuses who doesn’t.  Here they are:

ROD—A fishing rod is called a rod, not a pole.

GUIDES—The circular pieces of metal attached to the rod that guide your line on its way to the tip top are called guides, not eyes.

REELING—When you reel in a fish, you don’t actually reel in the fish.  What you are actually doing is reeling in slack line.  Slack line is created by lifting the rod tip to bring the fish closer to you, then dropping the rod tip, which creates slack line, which you then reel in . . . and so forth. (This is often referred to as pumping the rod.)

THAT’S IT!  (Now you are not a fishing ignoramus.)  So, do you think you’re ready to get started?  Good!  Then let’s Go Fishin’ With Kids!

Back to Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Why Take a Kid Fishing?

Despite what you might think, there is only ONE reason to take a kid fishing.  That’s it!  Just ONE!  But, it’s the one and ONLY reason that will virtually GUARANTEE success—and that reason can be summed up in just one word: FUN!  Sound simple?  It is!  And therein lies the secret to making fishing something that you and your child can share for the rest of your lives.

Oh sure, there are love, companionship, good health, food on the table, and a zillion other reasons to take a kid fishing, but if you’re not out to have a good time with your child, then you are doomed to failure before you even start.

Grown men have been fishing since the beginning of time, and for a variety of reasons.  Originally, it probably began with cavemen trying to fill the bellies of their families.  Then, perhaps it became a way for henpecked husbands to get away from their wives!  Maybe then, it became a way to get together with their girl friends.  Then, who knows, perhaps it became a vehicle to get away with one’s best friend.  But, one thing is for certain: those adults who continued to fish did so for the best reason of all—the only TRUE reason—to have fun!

NOTE: In the January 1989 edition of Boating magazine, there’s an article labeled Child’s Play, written by Jan Fogt.  Two different messages scream out from this story: The first is the sub-title, Keep it Fun When Teaching Kids to Fish!; and the second is It’s also important to plan a fishing trip around calm water, because you don’t want to take a kid out and beat him up in rough water!

WOW!  Doesn’t that sound like great advice?  (We will expand upon the latter concept in Chapter 2, Where Do We Go?)

Think about what it means to be a kid.  Being a kid is all about HAVING FUN!  Heck, that’s how most of us can tell when we’ve become adults—we stop having fun.  It’s true!  AND, if we are having fun, what’s the first thing some wise adult will say?  YOU’RE ACTING JUST LIKE A KID!  Well, we don’t know about you, but there must be a fate worse than being called a kid.  Call it the Peter Pan syndrome, but each of us wants to live forever, and, yes, each of us wants to have as much FUN as possible.

What’s the right age,

and when should we go?

If you’re old enough to have a child, you’re old enough to fish.  OH!  You were asking about your child!  Well, since most schools have determined that the age of five years is appropriate for structured learning to begin, we could probably agree upon that age as the proper time.  Except that many of us know of five-year olds who can’t even suck their own thumbs at that age, let alone fish.  Still others are capable of playing Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata at the ripe old age of five.  Which child is yours?  Only you