While fishing in the back end of a small cove this morning, a small johnboat approached close-by with a father and his young son contentedly fishing.

The sandy headed young man, who I estimated to be about 4 years old, was sitting close behind his father and doing nothing but concentrating on his rod, reel and bait in the water. He wasn't talking, looking around or being distracted by anything. He was SERIOUSLY fishing.

All of a sudden, my partner and I hear a very excited young voice saying "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy it’s a big one." Dad starts coaching in a very calm voice but never touched the rod or gave any assistance other than fatherly encouragement. I’m about to choke at this point.

By this time partner and I are getting excited listening and observing the young man's excitement and fishing skills. Low and behold a really big bass breaks water for us all to see. The kid is so excited it got me and my partner shouting encouragement to both dad and the kid. Dad remained incomprehensibly calm, which I to this time find hard to believe, then expertly placed the net under a bass we estimated to be about 51/2 pounds.

Well, the kid's excitement exploded about this time with so much energy I can't come close to remembering all he said or asked his dad but it was certainly one of those moments when you observe a new fisherman being created.

Dad very calmly laid the fish on a measuring board and assured the kid that; "Yes son, he's long enough because he is 22.5 inches long". The kid said; "he's longer than your 15 incher dad."

We talked to dad a little and learned that the kid caught a 5 pounder yesterday so he was pretty sure that the trip to Sam Rayburn was well worth it.

We agreed. And yes, he had a camera.




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Cool story, and way to go dad for getting the kid into fishing!

Oh yea!

great read!!!

x2

Awsome

nice stroy great thing to witness

Great story. That father has his priorities in order.

Way 2 Go kiddo. Nice write up also. Did ya ask the kid for his autograph?

that's great!

Thanks for sharing! Great story.

I'm thinking that was the best post on here that I've read in the last two months!

Okay.....maybe for the last 6 months!

Fishing is a great sport isn't it.Great Story

Beautiful! My son and I had a moment similiar to that on Rayburn 2 yrs ago. My 5yr old said he had a big one on and my partner agreed. So I went to the back to help him. Long story short, it got in the grass and I explained to my son that the line might break when I tried to pull him free. I pulled and the fish popped out. He finished the fight himself. It was a healthy 4.8. My son wanted to call his Papa to tell him. When my dad asked how much it weighed my son didn't skip a beat and said, "He weighed 6lbs 6oz Papa!" He's going to make one heck of a fisherman!!

That's a AWESOME story, thanks for sharing.

I love to see and hear about this type of stuff.

Awesome story, man. To see the future of our sport unfolding right in front of you, not to mention the moment between a father and a son...amazingly good stuff.

Thanks for sharing in a way that made me feel like I was in the boat with you, rooting the young man on too!

It's funny I had that experience but in reverse last weekend on lake Pinkston. I took my elderly father out bass fishing. He doesnt usually go because he doesn't feel he knows how to fish for bass. I tied him on a red rattletrap. After about an hour of working around the lake, I hear "Son, I got one". I look back expecting him to have 12" buck, to see a 22"er trying to frantically shake the trap. Of course, I had to listen to how the old man outfished me from the back of the boat the rest of the day, but he did call this morning to see what I was doing tomorrow afternoon and wondering if the bass may still be biting.

Excellent story.. so cool for a boy that young to be that dedicated to fishing.

My Daughter caught her first Bass at age 4 on tube jigs at Ray Roberts when it had first opened to boat trafic. .

great story... Thanks for sharing.I can't wait till my son is a little older so we can go.

Great story, you just made my day! Thanks for that

awesome story....cant beat a father taking his son fishing and the son catching a TOAD! That kid will be hooked for life now!

Great story, thanks for posting!

Great story. I'm a very proud father of two boys. I'll never forget their first fish and what's really cool...they haven't either. The best feeling in the world is when they ask me to go.
We'll be in the truck driving and my youngest will notice the weather and say "we should go fishing". He knows the right conditions. Great story and thanks for sharing.

Boy I am glad I looked at your post what a awsome experience.Thanks for sharing that story.

Regards-

Really cool story

Great story and yup, he's hooked for life.

Even if I had not caught a fish all day that would of made my day. Awesome story! One of my sponsors is a guy named Ken who runs an organization called Youth In The Wild Sportsmens Club...he introduces fatherless kids to fishing, hunting, and outdoors who would otherwise never have the oppurtunity to make that special bond with the outdoors. He takes them on hog hunts...weekend camps...and fishing trips and just gets these kids hooked on it. It is really a great thing to be a part of and I challenge all the fellow fisherman out there to get involved with our youth today and spend a little extra time with them. The impact you can make can last a lifetime.

great story, as dads sometimes we forget to take the time with our children. But not this guy

my 16yr old son and I fish together every chance we get, and there is no better feeling than that moment when I realize he's got a fish on.

Great post...thanks for sharing!

Perfect story, thanks for sharing. The kid you take fishing today will be the person that takes you fishing when you're old!

Great story. I have one that happened today also at Rayburn (Harvey Creek). Not quite as cool, but nice. My sister and her husband and their grandaughter was fishing close by me. I couldn't see them through the bushes but I heard her (11 yrs. old) yelling "It's a big one!" And my sister said "Get the net!" When I worked my way back around where they were, the youngster was grinning ear to ear. I said how big and she said "4 pounds!" They had put it in the live well so she could show me, and I asked only 4?, and she said well, 4.15. I said that's a 5 pounder!! She smiled even bigger and I said it needs to be back in the lake. So without hesitation she eased it back in the water and let it go.

I had my 5 yr old daughter in the boat with me on lake Conroe last weekend and she was throwing a spinner bait..She practises in the drive way stand in my boat and cant use her rod and reel but has to be my kistler heliun ltx..man i was sweatin.. She was reeling it so fast it was like a topwater..I asked he to slow down and she said she didnt want to because she didnt want to catch " one of the ugly fish again" Catfish..she caught a catfish several months ago and was scrared to death..She she it was ugly and to throw it back...It was a good 2 to 3 lb fish..

Awesome story and a great site to witness. I have a 2 year old and he is steadly starting to get better at his casting and loves watching me catch fish. I think he gets more excited about it than i do. I can't wait for the day when he catches is first.

Well I feel soo wronged...

I have a pond behind my house that I and another neighbor have stocked with Floridas. We strategically placed brush piles and rock piles for structure and the whole 9 yards. Anyways, to get to the story...

I take my 4 yr. old daughter down there to fish and to have some daddy daughter time. I refuse to let her use a zebco so I taught her how to cast a baitcaster. I just tightened down the tensioner and let her at it. She figured it out after about 30 minutes so I put her on a brush pile. She makes an almost perfect cast with a t-rigged blue fleck power worm. I told her to lower the tip and reel up the slack. She did just that and her line started to move off. I told her to take a step back and hold the rod tight as she can and pull the rod up as hard as she could. She did and the next thing I know the fish is peeling drag from the curado and ripping the line through the water. She never tried to reel as she was trying to keep from going in the water. I was laughing and she was crying...almost screaming. I tried to calmly demand her to start reeling it in as I thought that she would get over her fears once she seen what the reward was going to be. She somewhat listened and tried as hard as she could to reel it in. She kept saying "Daddy I can't, it's too hard" over and over. I tried to remain calm and get her to trust me that she could. The fish tired out finally(thank the lord) after what seemed like 7-8 minutes and she pulled it in and drug it up on the bank. I was estatic to see that she caught a 7 1/2 lb. largemouth. I was very happy....so happy that I yelled "YEAH" for her. I went to give her a high five and she dropped the rod and ran home into the house to tell her mommy that I made her catch a fish.

Now she won't fish unless she has her pink zebco and a little pink lure. She still goes but she spends more time slapping the water with the rod tip. She says she is trying to scare any fish away from her lure. Darndest thing!!

torq- that's a great story also. My baby girl's 2 and I can picture her being the same way in a couple years.

kest- that is awesome you got to see that. I take my 5yo boy every once in a while, but he just has no interest because I haven't been able to put him on any fish. I think once he reaps the rewards he will be able to focus a little more. The best moment I have had was last week he finally agreed to put down his Spider man pole and try a spinning rod. So for a total of about 5 min. it was just me and my boy on the front deck tossing a spinner bait. Course then he let go of his toy airplane while we were going and the trip was over.

great story! the seed has been planted!

Awesome! That motivates me even more to take my son to "big bass" lakes! I can just imagine the pride in that father while watching his son reel in a big chunk of a fish!

Great read! Nothing better than seeing a young fisherman born on the water. I believe young kids hooked on hishing have the best chance at not getting hooked on the bad things out there while growing up. They just get hooked on the looking for the next opertunity to catch another fish.

Great story. I have four boys of my own and it just doesn't get any better than that.

Great story. Wish i had seen it.

And another sicko is made....

Great read. It made my day for sure.

Great all we need is another Vandam in the world of bass fishing 2 5s in two days by a 4 year old

great story

Brings bank a lot of great memories.
Coming up I thought there was nothing better than catching a biggin or bagging a buck, but I was was wrong. The look on my children's faces when they catch a nice fish,just loving the outdoors, or making the some discoveries I did at that age is the best feeling in the world. Thanks for the post!

Good story...

"MY DAD" would have been poking me in the side and pinching my butt so I would loose the fish...He wasn't about to let me "honestly" catch that fish and beat his 15"er!!

Tough love my friend tough love!!

I guess thats why to this day I can do pretty much anything under pressure. Shoot...I even drive golf balls 290 yards while "I" am talking in my back swing!