Fishing Weekend

Hey, it's a "Take a Kid Fishing" weekend in Minnesota. Go to the Minnesota DNR website to learn more!

I grew up with parents who were avid at hunting, fishing and archery. I remember when I was very young going camping all of the time at archery tournaments. Dad was always bringing home a fresh trout, there were always fox & mink pelts drying in the basement and a deer hanging in the big elm tree in the back yard. We ate deer all winter long. Today, I can't eat the stuff! We also grew up with Dad's single-shot pistol laying plain as day next to his chair in the living room. None of us ever thought about touching it and the grandkids never did either. I guess it's something you just respect when you grow up in this type of family. We knew that gun was Dad's and it could kill. Not once did I ever touch that gun or have any facination with it. I do not understand it when I hear about kids and gun accidents. To me it is obvious that the parents never taught respect about a weapon and just hid it hoping the kids would never find it. To me you have to be up front and honest when you have dangers in your home. I raised my daughter as a single parent. I trained her from the instant she could understand that when I said "Danger, Stop." She did. Several times I recall saying it and she would stop dead in her tracks and no harm every came to her. She just knew that when I said those words - it was serious. Not once did I ever have to say it twice or run after her.

Anyway, that is not the point of this post. I hope that every kid gets at least a chance to try fishing. My Dad never took me fishing but my Mother did. She took me and Penny Lord down to the dam in Faribault and we went bullhead fishing with bamboo poles! Gosh, that was fun. We brought them home and mom cooked them up for us. I will never forget that day or that delicious meal. It was fun! Every kid should have at least one of those fishing memories.