Going Fishing

I believe one of the best experiences a kid can do is go fishing. This would be true even if he only does it once.

I recommend that you take your child or children fishing whether you like to go yourself or not. It will be something they will remember the rest of their lives.

I haven’t fished as an adult; however, I went fishing when I was around thirteen. I did most of my fishing off our dock in Gig Harbor. I enjoyed being by myself and to see if I could actually catch a fish. It did take a while to catch something but I finally did. Not only did I catch one fish I caught a lot of fish over lots of time fishing. Of course, it was convenient for me because I just had to walk down to dock.

There were two types of fish I caught which was flounders and bullheads. The flounders my mother would skin and cook for dinner. They were very delicious to eat. The bullheads were not made for human consumption so I gave them to our cats. They enjoyed the bullheads very much. I would say that I was popular with the cats.

I really wondered why I never was able to catch a salmon. They were frequent visitors to Gig Harbor. In fact, at the north end of the harbor there are two creeks. The salmon will go up both creeks to spawn. One of the creeks is on the east side and the other is on the west side. The one on the west side there used to be a hardware store next to it while I was growing up. Several years ago when the hardware store closed they turned it into a park. So people can actually view the creek now. Last year they added a bridge and cars go over it one direction; I found out back in the 40s there was an original bridge but was taken out I believe when the hardware store was built.

The creek on the east side goes through Crescent Creek Park. When I was a child it was known as Gig Harbor City Park; however, now that Gig Harbor has several parks they changed the name. I used to spend a lot of time at the park when I was growing up. We had picnics as well as playing football after school when I was in junior high. The park was on my way home from school. Also, the baseball park was our home field for little league games. One of my friends Paul lived on Crescent Valley where the creek went through. We had Cub Scout meetings at his house, and the creek went through his yard. We could see the salmon go up stream.

I had another experience at around the same age when I went over to friend’s house in Vaughn, Washington. It is located north and west of Gig Harbor. It is on the Key Peninsula and takes about a half hour to drive there. We went and fished along the Vaughn River. It was not very deep so we were able to walk in the river though it was quite cold. We actually used spears to catch a bunch of flounders. We were unable to find any salmon there either. I expect it was probably the wrong time of the year for salmon. It may have been the reason I never caught salmon in the harbor either.

I believe whether you want to go out fishing or not. I think it is a good thing once in a while to put a sign out that says “Gone fishing”.  You do not have to go to a harbor, lake, or river to fish. Just go out and have a good time doing whatever. Others won’t know they just think you are out fishing.

In Gig Harbor we have a couple public docks where you can hang out and not even fish if that is what you want to do. It is just nice to feel the breeze and enjoy the weather.

I never did fish with my dad or my brothers; however, he did say he went fishing when he was younger. Most likely he did not fish with his dad either. Most of the time dad spent his time sailing which was a good thing to do as well. I didn’t always like it when there was no or little wind but still a good time. Sailing is what my brothers and I did with our dad. So I guess could put up a sign that says “Gone Sailing”.