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Cat's in the Cradle
By Gary Brown
There is this song written and sung by Harry Chapin called Cat's in the Cradle and the lyrics have me thinking that life is too short.
If you have never heard it before, the lyrics take you through how a child comes into the world and how that child ages and grows up to be the same as his dad. Then when he has a child and the father is now a grandad, the child grows up to be the same as the dad and the grandad.
The lyrics describe that because there is too much going on in their lives, they don't take the time to spend with their children. I see this happening so much in today's society that I have sworn never to let this happen to me and my kids.
Growing up I can fondly remember the times that I spent with my dad, uncle and their mates, not only fishing but doing many other things like travelling around Australia, caravanning, camping, fishing, exploring, swimming, hunting and much more. Many of those great experiences still stick in my head forever and I love telling our kids and their kids about the great times we had.
One memory that comes to mind is when I was fishing with my dad and uncle off the south coast. For some reason I got very sea sick and it was decided to bring me back to shore.
Well that's not quite correct...
As we approached the back of the surf dad said, "That is as far as I am going, you will need to jump in and swim in through the surf. Mum will pick you up and take you home." As I was swimming back in through the surf, dad and uncle Don went back out and kept fishing.
That little change in plans wasn't going to stop me fishing as I grabbed my rock gear and chased a few drummer and bream. When I saw that they were coming back in, I headed back to the beach to show them my catch.
From an early age our kids showed an interest in all things sport and fishing was one of them. Maybe it was because I was involved in the fishing and boating industry and had so much fishing gear laying around that they couldn't but like fishing. My wife reckoned that I was brain washing them.
Over the years, as our kids have grown up, I have taken an interest in whatever they have decided to do. Whether it was at school, playing in the jazz band, playing soccer, netball, Oztag, work... as life is too short to not be involved. Much the same as my parents did.
One thing that I didn't do was pressure them into going fishing. What did happen was that they would ask to come along when I went out.
A number of years ago I used to build my own fishing rods and when I went to the tackle show out at Penrith I took our son Chris over the Fuji stand and introduced him to Wayne Loddington and Ian Miller.
Wayne ask Chris whether he builds fishing rods? "No, dad won't let me" was the reply.
Wayne quickly ask me why not? "He's too young" was my reply.
Do you want to have a go Chris? "Sure", as he sat next to Ian Miller.
To the amazement of all of us Chris just started doing an under binding, complete with the correct start and finish off.
"Where did you learn that", I asked? "From watching you, dad!"
At the time Chris was nine years old. For the next three years Chris sat beside Ian Miller at the Tackle Shows and showed people how to do rod building. I couldn't be prouder.
Since those early years, Chris has grown up, moved out, married and started a family of his own. Alanna and Chris now have three boys. Twins, Riley and Lachie and of course who could forget Oliver.
Our daughter Alissa and her husband Andrew (who Alissa reckons I have brain washed into liking fishing) are expecting their first child in early September and I am sure he or she will grow up with a love of the outdoors and of course fishing.
Just recently Chris and I took Riley and Lachie out into the Lake Illawarra channel to target bream, flathead and whiting, while at anchor and using peeled prawns for bait.
After anchoring up the boys were carrying out their job of laying out a berley trail with small handfuls of chicken pellets. After baiting the lines, I cast them out and set them up in the rod holders. They boys have learnt that over the years this is one of the best ways to fish when at anchor in the estuary.
It wasn't long before Okuma Epixor XT 30 reels were screaming and it was like a flock of seagulls trying to get to some chips as the four of us tried to grab the rods first. Of course, Chris and I let the boys get there first.
As they were both fighting fish it brought back memories of when I fished with my dad and uncle and the rods came up tight to a rampaging snapper or the time Alissa caught her first ever flathead of 79cm... and who could forget when Chris caught his first ever bream on a soft plastic.
The shear enjoyment and the smiles on the faces as they fought and brought the fish to the net was gold. There is nothing better and I can't wait to get Oliver out there to experience the same thing.
What I have learnt over the years is that you need to have plenty of patience when teaching kids anything. Especially fishing!
The first time that Chris and I took the boys fishing it was in his boat in the Minnamurra River on the south coast of NSW and we were targeting whiting with live blood worms. As I was baiting up the lines Lachie decided to throw overboard a $1.80 live blood worm to see if he could catch his first fish. The only problem was that there was no hook in it. Not to worry, I thought, we have plenty more. Only to find that Riley wanted to do the same.
Calmly I explained that as much as I like feeding the fish, I would prefer that there was a hook in the bait as it would be easy to catch the fish. To keep them occupied I taught them how to throw out small handfuls of berley to help attract the fish to the boat.
It doesn't matter how young or old you are, you can always learn something new. Even if it's through making a mistake.
A number of years ago I was down at Jindabyne trolling for trout. Something which I had never done before and the guy I was with was teaching me how to rig up and use Ford Fenders.
After I had carefully rigged up the Ford Fenders, leader, lure and a trailing fly I dropped the rig over the side only to realize that I hadn't tied the rig onto my main line... we live and we learn.
I get so much pleasure in taking kids out fishing with me and getting them onto a few fish. Over the years I have learnt that there are a number of things that will make your and their day of fishing a time to remember.
- Have some kind of check list. Gear, bait, berley, food, drinks, sun cream, etc.
- Make sure that there is a change of clothes in case the weather changes.
- Have some food on board as fishing does make you hungry.
- Don't give them crappy gear to use just because they are a kid. It doesn't have to be high end stuff either.
- If bait fishing from a boat at anchor, teach them when and how to berley.
- Show them how to rig their rods themselves.
- Teach them the importance of maintaining their outfits.
- If they don't like holding fish for a photo, don't pressure them into it. You may have to get in the photo with them. Or you could just get them to hold the line.
- If there is not much action going on, try and keep them busy.
- If using lures, let them pick out their own choice of colours, even if you don't think it's the correct one. You never know they may surprise you and catch a fish. My daughter has.
- Teach them that you don't have to keep everything and don't forget about size and bag limits.
- Take them out to collect bait. The twins love pumping for nippers and grabbing handfuls of them at a time.
- Teach them how to use a poddy mullet trap and then how to rig them.
- If they want to have a go at casting, I have given the twins a casting plug each so that they can practice casting in their back yard.
- If they say that they have had enough, don't pressure them into staying.
- If they like reading, introduce them to a fishing book. If they are like me they will like looking at the pictures first.
My main advice to anyone who wants to get their kids into fishing is to always make it fun and don't pressure them with it. This way they will enjoy it more.