I took my seven year old daughter fishing at the Ship Canal after dinner this evening. It has been forever since she has caught a fish on her own. She just keeps getting skunked every time we go out, and it has been getting harder and harder to convince her to go fishing with me. So I was really feeling the pressure tonight to get her on some fish.

I got her set up with some nice fat earthworms and a bobber, and we moseyed along the canal, trying a few different spots along the way. After about twenty or thirty minutes with no luck, I thought I was about to lose her to boredom again, when we finally found the right spot. She was distractedly playing with grass when she got the first bite. The fish took half her worm and disappeared. That sure got her excited and focused. 30 seconds later, her bobber disappears again, but this time she was ready for it and she caught her first bass! She was absolutely beaming. I was so happy for her, and much relieved she finally got a fish. When she said, "I want to catch more fish!" it was music to my ears. She caught another little smallmouth a few minutes later, and a sculpin a bit after that. I loved seeing her excitement.

It was getting late, so we called it a day and went and had some ice cream. As we ate, she talked about how much fun fishing is, and it was obvious she was feeling quite proud of herself. I knew catching a few fish would turn things around for her.

Me, I got skunked, but I couldn't have cared less.

---