Fly Fishing and Kids Many things stick out when I look back to those days. I remember both of them caught their first fish on the same day. Their first fish all alone that is, one in which I hadn't hooked first and then allowed them to reel in. One time, my younger son had been standing on a rock behind me, in a small stream while I fished a riffle next to the far bank. Well he decided he was cold and wanted me to carry him back to shore. I tucked him under my non-fishing arm, and low and behold here came our Golden Retriever puppy unable to touch bottom and with a slightly panicked look. I slipped my hand under his color. This whole time I had left my nymph in the water, and I was heading back to shore with my son and puppy. If that wasn't chaotic enough, it was just then that a fish struck. I safely deposited my son and puppy, and then reeled in the fish. I was always kind of proud of that fish, even though it was just average in size.

Making the most of your time - Fishing Safety rules everyone should know When you are going ice fishing, there are a lot of safety rules that you need to follow at all times. Unlike the other forms of standard fishing, ice fishing presents a lot of health risks. First, you should never go ice fishing without a well built shack. The shacks provide you shelter while you are ice fishing. Without this shelter, you will be susceptible to hypothermia and other health related problems. The second thing you need to keep in mind at all times is the condition of the ice and the weather predictions. Falling through the ice while ice fishing, especially alone, is a death sentence. Being trapped on the open ice during a blizzard is also extremely dangerous, even with the shelter of an ice shack available. When you are stocking your ice shack, you need to make certain that you have enough wood for the wood stove, or heating device within the shack. This device should also be cared for and watched over at all times, so the ice beneath the shack remains stable or that the shack does not burn. If you keep these fishing safety tips and rules in mind, you should be able to have an enjoyable time fishing without high risk of injury to yourself or others, no matter which form of fishing you choose to participate in.

Do Fish See in Color The fly fisherman also must remember that color behaves differently in water that it does when seen in the air. Water is denser, and the colors are diffused quicker. Cloudy days where there is less overall light will offer less visibility, and colors will disappear quicker in the depths of the water. And the clarity of water obviously greatly effects this as well. This is important in fly selection because certain colors travel farther in low light than others. Red is the first color to disappear, usually at about 15 feet in clear water, followed by orange and then yellow. Blues and greens are visible to the fish as long as there is light. Yet silver and white will be brighter. So while the Mickey Finn is obviously a great choice as an attractor fly, it would not be as good a choice in murky water or if fished deep. A better attractor might be a white Woolly Bugger or White Marabou Muddler.

Woman part of third generation of fishing from the Grand River (MLive.com)
When she was a young girl, Maxine Schaner used to go fishing from the Sixth Street bridge every Sunday after attending service at St. Adalbert's. After church, Maxine's father, uncle and brother would go to Sixth Street Bridge and fish for catfish until wel.