I Made My Three Year Old Lip a Fish...But Should I Have Done That?

Most kids are interested in fishing in come capacity.  Whether it is casting, digging up worms, tying flies, getting a bite, reeling a fish in, holding it, or watching it swim away, the entire process is pretty darn exciting to youngsters.  My eight year old likes to bring in fish and then see it swim off.  I think he finds some sort of enjoyment in touching but not killing wildlife.  However, he didn't start off this way.  I started him fishing at the age of two and probably pushed fishing on him too fast and too early.  I was so excited for him to love fishing just as much as I do that I made him fish for too long and expected too much of him.  One of the expectations I had was that he would lip the first fish he ever caught like a natural and pose for pictures without being prompted to do so.  Now if you know anything about kids, you know that I was living in fantasy land and none of that was going to happen.  Instead, I begged, pleaded, and yes even bribed (with candy) him to lip his first fish.  It wasn't pleasant but he's not afraid to do it today!  Just see below for evidence.

So then kid number two came along and I vowed that things would be different this time.  I told myself that I wouldn't force fishing on him and would just wait until he naturally gravitated towards the idea.  Eventually he did at the age of three and thought the entire idea was both silly but fascinating.  He watched me reel in a few fish and played with some of my tackle but I could see what was on the horizon.  He was eventually going to catch his first fish and I was going to take pictures of that moment.  That wasn't an option...period.  What was an option was how I was going to approach the idea of him holding and lipping the fish.  The coaxing idea had flopped with the other kid so I decided on a shock and awe campaign.  When the moment came, without hesitation.  I grabbed the fish with one hand and my son's hand with the other.  I stuck his thumb in the fish's mouth so fast he couldn't tell what had happened and just started snapping pictures.  The entire event was over before he could squirm, argue, or cry.

I am proud to say that both of my sons are not emotionally scarred as a result of holding fish and will readily hold one to this day.  However, as with so many things in life, I can't help but wonder, "Should I have done that?"  After mulling this over for a long time, I have decided that I don't regret forcing this momentous event on either one of them.  It wasn't dangerous or unhealthy in any way.  It showed them that nature is accessible and tangible.  

And finally, I don't have to worry about them going fishing with their buddies when they are older or with girlfriends and experiencing the embarrassment of hearing someone say "You've never held a fish before?"  I'm not going to lie, that happened with me and a buddy of mine.  He was thirty years old and wouldn't lip a bass on a fishing trip I took him on.  I just remember thinking "Good gracious, were you neglected as a child?"  Obviously, I mean that sarcastically, but I was shocked that he was scared of a bass!  Nope, not my boys!  Now if we can just get a deer to field dress they will be a little closer to manhood!