Daddy Daughter

I'm a pretty honest person (except the occasional fish story), so what do you tell the school secretary when you are picking your daughter up early from school to go fishing?
"We have an appointment with Dr. Walleye MD" (I'm saving Dr. Crappie DDS for a couple weeks).

We left at 2pm for the 1 1/2 hour ride to the river. On the way we played the animal game (pick an animal for each letter of the alphabet), and the sign game (find a sign with each letter of the alphabet). I got a telephone call from a buddy asking if I was on the water "not yet" I said. Good, pick me up some fuel, I'm out. That would have been nice to know 20 minutes ago as I had two cans in my truck, I said. I wasn't out of fuel 20 minutes ago, he replied.... touché. Fortunately, a Meijer gas station was at the next stop. A $19 dollar fuel can and $20 worth of gas and we were gone.

We headed to the rescue at 4pm and found them about 2 miles up river. Come to find out, he has a sending unit/fuel float issue for his gauge. It was reading 1/2 tank, then went empty. Obviously, it was empty.

We fished unfamiliar waters (for me) directly on the Canadian side of the river (still in US waters). The water here was 4 degrees colder than the west side of the river. The fish on this side were still milking and spewing spawn. Using Abby's custom fuscia St. Croix rod, and a jig (picked by her) we managed to boat one male walleye. Switching to my rod and a different bait, we caught one more fish. Abby fished for awhile on her own but enjoyed the "you catch them and I'll real them in" approach.

Daddy packed plenty of snacks! We learned about the fish finder, trolling motor, drove the boat through the crowd, and even learned what a "slob" is (that would be a person that throws trash in the water).
It was a great day on the water. I have never been one that needs to catch his limit to be satisfied. My daughter has been fishing with me since she was three and as long as she has a good time, that is success in my book. She is the future of our sport. Like myself today with my father, I hope that some day she is taking me fishing (I hope the future Abby has a cool boat).

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On a related note:

Last fall, as we sat around Crappie camp, the topic of life jackets came up. I always said that I make my daughter wear her life jacket. This got me thinking however. I was being a hypocrite. She is wearing hers, but I am not wearing mine? The lake is one thing, but on a busy river, with current in the 4mph range, anything can happen.

Over the winter I thought about it more and more. Specifically, she is safe, but I cannot ensure a safe return for her if something happens to me. What if I fall out of the boat? She is safe from immediate harm. Or, god for bid, she falls in, you know I'm going to get her. What if something happens? I'm a great swimmer (actually was a swim instructor at one time) and was trained in the Marines with 80lbs on my back but... this is my daughter.

I hate conventional life jackets. They don't fit right, bind up, and are restrictive. I saved my money through the winter in the hopes to purchase an inflatable type PFD.
In February, I went to Cabela's and tried on all the different models. There were two that I really liked. The 3500 auto angler, and the new 3500 guide series. One was $149.00 and the other was $169.00
Expensive, yes. But put a price tag on life.

As luck would have it (not always the case in my book), the 3500 auto angler went on sale (still on sale) for $100.00. I bought two of them. They were delivered on Monday.
Last night, as I put her jacket on, I slipped mine on. I gotta tell you, I wore that thing all evening (about 6 hours) and never once even thought about it. I never knew it was there. When it came time to motor down river, the wind was chilly. I put my parka on right over the top of it. Again, never knew it was there. Fit right under my coat without issues.

I could fit 10 of these things in the same storage as three regular jackets. I will purchase another one to ensure all my passengers will have one available to them on my boat.

Get one, you won't be disappointed. As soon as she is big enough, I will purchase one for her. I didn't skimp on her first one, I won't skimp on the next. Now, if something bad happens, we know we are coming home!

Good posts Rich. I can't wait until lil Sophi is water worthy. You are so right about them having fun and learning to love fishing. It don't get any better than that!