If you had told me several months ago that I would end up fishing on a regular basis, I wouldn’t have believed you. I guess both fishing and hunting are sports that you get into so much that you can’t quit. Of course, my wife was a bit bothered by the fact that I used to leave on angling expeditions with my buddies.

One of the things that I pointed out to my honey was that she could always cook the fish that I caught. My wife is an excellent cook, that I can tell you. She’s always enjoyed making specialties from scratch, but also out of unique ingredients. Don’t get me wrong, but I’m not one of those guys that spend a lot of time in the kitchen. However, once she found out about my fishing success, I had to take her with me so that she could share the fun.

Obviously, my fishing friends weren’t particularly keen on the idea. Word has it that if you bring a woman on a boat fishing trip, she’ll bring you bad luck. I can’t be that superstitious, and since my wife is one of my best friends in the whole wide world, I was looking forward to making her love fishing, as well. The fact is that girls seriously have different hobbies from men, but that’s okay, in my book.

I started searching for tips on how you could get your special someone into a hobby that you have and I ended up on a Fishing Fury web page that I found particularly helpful. Even though my lady has a wonderful sense of humor, the first golden rule is to avoid making fun of your partner. Nobody’s born with one kind of knowledge or the next, and even the angling and hunting skills are something that you develop over time. If the person you’re taking with you on a trip is a bit more sensitive than a guy, you might want to avoid making jokes about their lack of experience.

Another detail that I feel that I have to point out is that you shouldn’t force people into doing what you want to do. If your wife or girlfriend has zero interest in your hobbies, perhaps you can come up with some sort of schedule that allows you to bond so that none of your personal pastimes are affected.

Of course, you should try to encourage them as much as possible. Tell them and show them how fishing techniques are performed and how they’re supposed to handle the gears and equipment you might own. Put your arms around your girlfriend and hold the rod together. She’ll appreciate the close contact and how gentle you’re trying to be.

Finally, make it all about you and her. Try to understand that you’re working on building a common interest because it’s important and it will positively impact your relationship.

Teaching your children how to fish can easily become an awesome adventure. It is best to teach them while they’re young, as people say, and with fishing as a sport, there’s no better time than the present to have your child hooked on your favorite pastime. To be successful in this endeavor, you will have to do your homework as a parent. This includes scouting for locations that promise a good catch. Children easily get bored and they really can’t stay put too long without getting a bite on their line, which would make the trip really unexciting. Ask for information from the local tackle shop, making sure to bring your children along so you can teach them by example what to ask, such as where to go and how to get there, about fishing licenses and regulations, among other matters.

Take the lead when organizing fishing gear in advance, to reduce stress. Make sure your child knows what items to pack including drinks and snack, water, sunscreen, insect repellant, a first-aid kit. Oh, and don’t forget to bring along good quality sunglasses for you and your child, fishing hats, rain jackets, quality fishing rods and reels or rod-and-reel combos, fishing line, baits and lures, a tackle bag or case, fishing pliers and scissors. Make sure your kid and you use premium quality fishing equipment from the onset.

Cheap gear is not worth the money you spend on it. If you want your child to really get into fishing, make sure to familiarize them with the right kind and quality of equipment that will last for many fishing seasons.

Teach your child the proper way of handling or gripping the rod. Show your young pupil how a float works and moves when they get a bite. Emphasize that it really takes time to learn, whether it’s setting the hook or holding the rod correctly. Teach your child to keep the rod in front of them in the proper position (9 to 11 o’clock), and how to turn the reel handle and react to a bite.

For safety, teach your child to use a sidearm cast and not an overhead one. Show them it’s important that there be no one in the way when they perform casting. Plenty of encouragement is the key to getting your child to learn the proper form and execution of moves.

Get a quality spincast or spinning combo, preferably from 3 feet 6 inches to five feet. Use a 6-pound monofilament line to spool the reel. Use a 1/32- to ⅛-ounce jig to rig the baits on, but you can also use tinsel crappie or marabou jigs. Go for minnow or worm soft-baits, which do not spoil. An effective way of engaging kids is to teach them a hopping jig or slow reeling retrieve.

Teach your young student that it takes patience to learn how to fish. Kids should learn how to steadily and slowly play the fish, and to stop when the fish gets to the surface. Although it pays to teach kids to quickly land a fish on their own, tell them that it’s fine to ask for help. Let your child also learn how to release the fish properly, as well as selective harvesting if the fish is to be eaten. Most importantly, remember that fishing with your child should be fun and stress-free. There is no pressure to catch a specific number of fish simply to ensure that the trip is a success every time.

As a wildlife documentary filmmaker I spend a lot of time on location. I love my job but it does take away from the time I get to spend with my family and friends. I am a proud father and hate to think about all of the things I’m missing in my kids’ lives, but I also believe that the work that I’m doing is important towards furthering conservation awareness. I’m also not ashamed to say that I miss spending time with my friends, and I sometimes get jealous when I hear about the adventures they’ve been having while I’m away.

When I have some spare time the two things that I love to do the most is go hunting and fishing. I still get to be out in nature, which I prefer regardless of the weather. I swear I can actually feel myself going stir crazy if I’m cooped indoors for any extended length of time.

One of the reasons I like to go fishing in my spare time is that this is an activity that I can do with my kids or my friends. When I take my kids we get to spend some quality time together without the distractions of smartphones, iPads and the myriad of other electronic devices children seem to always be staring at. I have their undivided attention, usually, and really have a chance to get to know them. This is also the perfect opportunity for me to start teaching them about the importance of conservation. I know that I am helping to create memories that will last all of us a lifetime.

While I don’t take my kids hunting with me, due to their age and the inherent dangers, this is an activity that I enjoy sharing with my friends. It really doesn’t matter what is in season or where we go since we always seem to be able to have a lot of fun. One type of hunting that we have recently gotten into is game birds, particularly duck and pheasant. Though I’ve been told that dove hunting is a lot of fun so maybe one day we’ll take a trip to Texas when the season starts. As always I’ll make sure that we have the right permits, and we’ll also closely follow any bag laws that might be in place. Anyways it is a future trip that I am looking forward to and will share my adventures with you in this blog.

I also go boat fishing with my friends, but we never seem to have much luck catching anything.  Even if we decided to buy a fish finder for boats we were still not so good. This is probably because we can’t stop talking and laughing, rarely paying attention to our rods. Just being able to spend time together laughing, joking and catching up makes the trip well worth our while.