Fishing: Outdoor treat -- Spending some time with dad

Sunday, June 20, 2004

A dank day in Cook's Forest turned out to be one of the best father-son adventures Lou Nagy of Wellsville, Ohio, will ever share with his son.

Nagy was doing chores around his camp last month when Lucas, 7, talked him into a quick trip to a kids' fishing pond, only to find construction underway.

"My heart sank as we pulled into the parking lot. With all the rain and high water, we hadn't fished much this year. The pond was reduced to a small stream surrounded by tons of muck. A backhoe and dump truck sat nearby. It was a mess," Nagy said.

His son was determined, though, and they decided to try their luck on the Clarion River. That plan changed when one of the construction workers told them about a spot on Tom's Run sure to hold nice trout.

"For the next hour, my son and I had the time of our lives. Lucas caught and released over a dozen trout, including a 17 1/2 inch brown," Nagy said. "The location gave me the chance to work with him with a spinner for the first time. I'll probably never get that white Rooster tail back."

As they left, they looked for the worker whose kindness had turned their day around. They couldn't find him, so they asked the rest of the crew to pass along their thanks.

"That was a special day for us on Tom's Run," Nagy said. "That man didn't have to do that. We were fortunate to have met him. I wasn't fishing that day. It was Luc's day and that fellow made it. If more of us adults gave a little extra to give kids positive fishing experiences, more kids would be fishing than getting into trouble."

New York child psychiatrist and author Alvin Rosenfeld, whose grassroots movement to rebalance family priorities has been featured on "Oprah," "Good Morning America" and other popular television shows (www.hyperparenting.com), agrees.

"One good relationship with an adult protects a child against a lot of bad events. Having a parent share what he loves, whether it's fishing or something else, is a great thing," said Rosenfeld, whose books include "Hyper-Parenting" and "The Over-Scheduled Child."

"The beauty of fishing is, there's nothing you have to do. Nothing important has to happen."

Yet something important does happen, said Rosenfeld. Children get their needs met by the pivotal person in their lives -- a parent, and one who is fully involved and not just shuttling them from one organized activity to another.

"We've lost faith in ourselves as to what kids need, so we turn them over to experts," he said. "What they really want is time with mom and dad."

That's easy enough on Father's Day.

"It's the biggest boat rental day of the season here," said Ron Anderson of Appalachian Trails Sporting Goods, a tackle shop near Lake Arthur in Butler County. "It's the made to order perfect way to spend the holiday with dad."

But Anderson sees the happy faces of families, year-round.

"I had three little girls in the shop who went out on a pontoon boat with dad for what was supposed to be a five hour getaway and ended up being an overnighter," Anderson said. "Mom called from her cell phone wondering what happened to them and all they said was, bring groceries and more bait.

"When those little girls came in after 24 hours on the lake, you'd think they'd be cranky and tired, but they were falling all over themselves about the catfish they caught. Don't you think they'll remember that all their lives?"

Bill Roerink of Wexford and his sons, Collin and Kyle, are making memories this weekend at their annual Father's Day fishing reunion on Culver Lake in Branchville, N.J.,with Bill's father, who is 84, and his brother and nephews.

"Collin wrote me a note last year which is framed, on my dresser," Roerink said. "He said, 'It doesn't matter if we catch anything [liar] as long as we fish together.' I look at it and smile every morning."

For children whose parents don't fish there are groups in Southwestern Pennsylvania to teach them.

Family Tyes, the Baldwin High School-based fishing club (www.familytyes.com), has year-round fly fishing instruction with an inter-generational focus. Program veterans mentor newcomers on every aspect of angling from fly tying to casting, and the group sponsors outings.

Venture Outdoors (www.ventureoutdoors.org) offers guided family fishing on streams and lakes, many at state parks, including Point State Park, Downtown.

Sportsmen's groups too numerous to mention offer children's outings. A good place to start is the Allegheny County League of Sportsmen's youth outdoors day with fishing and more for youngsters ages 9-15 on July 24 at the Millvale Sportsmen;s Club in Wexford.

The Allegheny County League of Sportsmen (www.acslpa.org) represents 53 clubs.

Holiday Park Bass Busters invites children to join its junior tournament club. It also runs a tackle loaner program at area libraries ( www.hpbb.net).

And speaking of helping children, don't forget the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southwestern Pennsylvania's annual fishing tournament sponsored by American Bridge on Aug. 29 at Point State Park. Last year's tournament drew more than 400 anglers, including many adults who chose the Boys Club instead of the street, when they were growing up.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is always looking for adults to help teach youngsters to fish. Its certified fishing instructor program is free. For details, visit www.fish.state.pa.us.