Fishing Anyone?

As I pull into the driveway I see Hannah in denim shorts, t-shirt and floppy white hat casting a line into the front yard. She looks the part of the quintessential fishergirl. The babysitter's family are all big into fishing and Hannah has caught the bug.

This weekend we took her on a shopping trip and bought her a 2'8" Barbie fishing pole/reel combo and all the tackle she will need to catch Perch. It has a little fish-shaped plug so she can practice casting, which she is pretty good at. I don't know who was having more fun playing with her fishing pole, me or her.

For her first practice session I took her out on the front porch to show her how it was done and promptly got the line caught in the limbs of a pin oak. Our neighbor who was out weed-eating came over to harass me. He jokingly informs Hannah that you're not supposed to 'catch' trees. After this, I let Hannah have a couple of turns. Before long she masters the release of the button with the flick of the wrist and is casting fairly well. Then she hands the rod back to me. "Here, Mommy, catch a tree so I can laugh" she says. Everybody is a comedian!

We are thinking that we'll take Hannah and her cousin camping and fishing one weekend soon, something they are both eager to do. The thing we are still debating is whehter we will just throw them all back or if we should keep the big ones, should we actually catch any, that is. I don't know if this would traumatize the girls or not. I decided to test the water, so the next time Hannah reeled in her 'catch' and squealed "I caught a fish", I asked if we should cut it up and cook it for dinner. She gave me the most puzzled look and then let me in on the secret: "It's just a pretend fish, Mommy".