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Moms find fun and family values in fishing
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Moms find fun and family values in fishing
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Fischer was 4 or 5 the first time she went fishing. Her grandfather took her to Hough Park Lake in Jefferson City, but it was her mom who was so proud of her daughter's catch that she enshrined it in the family freezer. Sherry's memory of her first catch - a 4-inch bluegill - is much fresher than the freezer-burned, 28-year-old relic. She has caught much bigger fish since then. For her, though, the best part of fishing isn't the size of the fish she nets, but having time away from traffic and cell phones with her family.
Fischer and her children, Chelsea, age 6 and Caleb, 2, still favor bank fishing with worms and bobbers. Thanks to tutoring from her mom, Chelsea is a surprisingly competent angler. Caleb still needs a lot of help.
"With kids this age, you're kidding yourself if you think you are going to get much fishing done," says Sherry. "The key to enjoying fishing with little kids is enjoying the overall experience. When the kids get bored, we put down the fishing poles and get a net to hunt for tadpoles and bugs."
SANDY RACKERS, HOLTS SUMMIT
Sandy Rackers remembers digging worms to go fishing at her grandmother's farm pond. "All I had was a cane pole with a long line and a hook and bobber," she says. "I would swing it back and forth until it reached the perfect spot, or at least as far as I could get it. Then I would put a watchful eyeball on the bobber in hopes of getting a wiggle. Some days we would catch fish, and some days we fed them. If we got tired of fishing, we'd jump in the pond with them."
Rackers' husband, Joe, didn't share her passion for fishing. When her sons, Craig and Curt, were big enough, she bought them fishing poles and off they went to the creek at her dad's farm, where they set about turning over rocks to collect fishing worms.
"Whoever said you have to be quiet when fishing or you'll scare the fish didn't know what they were talking about," says Rackers. "We laughed and talked the whole time we fished, and we let out a big scream when we thought we had a good one on the hook. The boys' great-grandma would sometimes go with us and she was the loudest giggler of all. It didn't matter what was on the other end of the line. We were just excited to feel the tug."
When Rackers' sons went away to college, she missed their fishing trips, so she converted her late-sleeping husband into an early-rising fishing partner. Then she got her sister and brothers and their families involved. "I suppose my desire to fish goes along with my desire to socialize with the ones I care about the most," she says.
Her sons, now 27 and 30, still come home for trout opener when possible. "I was so pleased last year when my oldest son, Craig, flew in from Michigan to meet me at Bennett Spring. Although it's 20 years later and my sons have lives of their own, we still find time each year to get together for fishing . . . and socializing."
photo from Sterett Creek Marina |
JUDY BETHEL, ST. CLAIR
Not everyone is lucky enough to grow up in a family of fisherwomen. Judy Bethel had never fished until she met her husband, the late C.W. "Zeke" Bethel. He wasted no time introducing her to the Bourbeuse River so his domestic partner could be his fishing partner, too. As newlyweds, they spent most of their spare time on the river. "I would stop at the A&W Root Beer stand after work on Friday, get a Papa Burger and a Momma Burger and head for the river. He would be there already, and we would spend the weekend fishing and sleeping in the back of his Dodge panel truck. "I used to paddle him and his boss on a lot of those river trips," says Bethel. "I must have been pretty good at it, because they even let me do the paddling at night when they were frogging." That was a real honor," she says, tongue in cheek. The Bethels' shared passion for fishing eventually took them to Canada, where they had some of the most memorable fishing experiences of their lives. Bethel says her "bigtime fishing days" ended with the death of her husband 17 years ago, but she still fishes. She seldom gets to the river any more. Instead, most of her fishing is done at a friend's farm lake near her home. She prefers to fish with worms and no bobber - tightlining - for channel catfish. She goes most weekends through the summer, sometimes fishing alone, other times with sons, daughters, nephews or one of her 12 grandchildren. |
Bethel says fishing has been a bridge between the generations of her family. She enjoys introducing her grandchildren to the mysteries of fishing, and she says she doesn't have to beg anyone to go fishing with her. "My kids call and ask me to go with them," she says.
NORMA DARROW, LEBANON
Norma Darrow began fishing as a child on a farm. Her affection for angling figured prominently in her attraction to the love of her life, Donnie Len Darrow. On their first date they went fishing at Lake of the Ozarks. Fishing for catfish with chicken livers might not seem romantic to everyone, but it started them on a road that eventually led to marriage. Later, Norma traveled to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, where she landed hundreds of pounds of sockeye salmon.
Donnie Len Darrow went on to become a major in the United States Marine Corps. Norma says he dreamed of retiring and having time to fish with his family. The dream went unfulfilled. He died in Vietnam in 1967. She says fishing with her children and grandchildren provides a tangible link with her late husband.
"I think his love of the outdoors is a big part of why DeeCee (her oldest daughter) works for the Conservation Department now and why we still fish."
Darrow says she loves fishing with her children and four grandchildren, ages 5 through 19. She has bought the little ones their own fishing vests. She also has been a mentor for other women and children. "Fishing is always there when you are looking for something to do," she says. Bennett Spring, where she does most of her fishing now, has hiking trails and other things to do when the fish aren't biting.
KATHY MOORE, PALMYRA
Kathi Moore was a less willing fisherman's bride, but a husband who was equally devoted to her and fishing won the day. "I had fished with my grandparents when I was growing up," she says, "but it was boring sitting and watching the bobber, so I never did it when I got older. Travis found out I didn't like the boring part, so he took me bluegill fishing and made sure the fish were biting the first time we went."
Travis also discovered that Kathi didn't like to eat fish because she hated bones in the meat. "He filleted all the fish I caught so there were no bones, and I really liked it that way. It was something he wanted me to enjoy as much as he did, so he eliminated all the barriers
With the barriers gone, Moore found herself enjoying bluegill fishing trips to a community lake near home. As her confidence and interest grew, she found that her natural competitiveness emerged. "It's fun to try to catch the first fish before Travis does," she says. "Of course, I don't actually 'win,' but I enjoy the friendly competition."
Moore says fishing is a way for her to explore the mysterious world under water without special breathing apparatus. "There's an overwhelming sense of curiosity in fishing," she says. "When you hook a fish, you wonder, 'Can I keep it on the line?' 'What kind of fish is it?' and 'How big is it?'"
Moore says the excitement of having a fish at the end of her line never grows old. She enjoys passing on that excitement to her two sons. "Fishing with kids can be challenging, but it's worth it to see the look on their face when they catch their first fish," she says. "Fishing is much more social than other things I do outdoors, like turkey hunting. For me, fishing is something to be shared. It's a way to experience nature, to participate in nature with my family, and it's something anyone can do, regardless of size or limitations."
LEILA BROWNING, AURORA
Leila Browning got a relatively late start. Fishing is her husband's hobby, and after retiring from the Aurora school system in 1989 she began going with him. Back then, they had a bass boat and spent a lot of time fishing at Table Rock Lake. Nowadays, that seems like too much trouble when they have quality trout fishing close by at Roaring River State Park.
They are there every other week or so, catching rainbow trout, often with their son, Dennis, and his family. They were there for opening day this year, camping out for four days and braving 2-degree temperatures to catch trout. "We kept going back to the truck to warm up when our hands got cold," she says.
In recent years, Browning and her husband have renewed their excitement for fishing by teaching beginners. They help with Kids Fishing Day at Roaring River and teach WOW (Wonders of the Outdoor World) fishing classes. She says events like these are perfect opportunities for mothers who want to fish but don't know the basics.
 photo from Sterett Creek Marina |
BRIDGET CANADAY, ASHLAND
Bridget Canaday is another mother whose love affair with fishing has its roots in romance. She was already hooked on her husband, Brian, so she was willing to try his favorite pastime. When she caught a 2-pound walleye from the Mississippi River on their first fishing trip together, she was hooked on fishing, too. She introduced her kids to fishing as soon as they were big enough to wear life jackets. Now she and her children, ages 3 and 8, fish at a community lake near her home in Ashland every week. They keep it simple, using bobbers and hooks with worms and minnows for bait. In recent years, the Canadays have taken up trout fishing at Montauk and Bennett Spring state parks. Bridget says 3-year-old Haley is quite a sight with her trout fishing permit pinned to her fishing hat. "I like being solitary when I fish," says Bridget, "but I like fishing with my family, too. It's fun to watch Haley play with the minnows in the minnow bucket. Fishing also gives us a chance to talk with our kids about our connection and concern for the environment. You harvest some fish to eat and put back the ones you don't need." |
ANDREA HOGSETT, MACON
Andrea Hogsett doesn't fish as often as some of the other mothers interviewed for this story, but she believes the future holds more fishing for her and her children, ages 18 months to 7 years. Growing up on a farm, she fished with her mother and grandmother, so it seemed natural for her to take her own children fishing. She started her oldest, Jacob, with a cane pole at age 2. The younger children, with limited attention spans, spend most of the time "messing around the edge of the pond," but that's part of the fun.
"They love to go fishing," says Hogsett. "Right now it's kind of a circus getting everybody ready, getting worms on their hooks and keeping their lines untangled. But in the future, I think it will get easier and we will be able to go more often. It's something we can do together as a family."
Hogsett says she likes the calm, easy pace of fishing. Afterwards, there's a fish fry, and everyone gets to enjoy the fruits of their labor, another chance for family bonding.
Moms who want to try fishing or introduce their families to the hobby can attend special events around the state in May and June. For details of introductory fishing events in your area, contact the nearest Conservation Department regional service center.
The free publication "An Introduction to Fishing" is available at Conservation Department regional offices and nature centers statewide or by written request to "Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180. A list of other fishing publications, plus information about where to fish and weekly fishing reports, are available at the Conservation Department's Web site, www.conservation.state.mo.us/fish/.
- Jim Low -
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Featuring books by Chuck Tyron 200 Missouri Smallmouth Adventures Figuring Out Flies Fly Fishing for Trout in Missouri |
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