A Fish Tale

Struggling for vacation ideas that appeal to the “hard to please” members of your family? Looking for something other than the standard visit to an amusement park or the zoo? When your boys think the idea of a weekend shopping trip is closer to torture than a vacation, you might need to change your way of thinking. …think like an 11 year old boy…

Sending an 11 yr old on a fishing trip with a family friend is an adventure in itself: Convincing him to go, getting him packed, building his confidence, driving him to the meeting point and missing him while he’s gone.

A trip to Rainbow Trout and Game Ranch Inc. in Southern Missouri was just what an adventurous (with a little persuasion) boy needed before he was ready to start middle school. Thanks to a great offer from our friend, Lionel, we sent him off on a fishing trip to meet new people and try new things.

A three day fishing vacation was a perfect outing for this nature-loving kid. He said, “the water was cool and clear. You could see the fish swimming so it gave you an idea of where to cast your line”. Besides the change of scenery, he also liked the challenge of trout fishing. “The fish put up more of a fight than the bass and blue gill around home. That made it more fun.”

Without Wi-Fi, TV or phone service they really roughed it, but throw in a little trap shooting, and meals at the lodge and this kid’s in second heaven. It really wasn’t too rough… “You took the fish you caught to the building where they filleted it and packaged it. We used fish parts as bait.”

They caught over 40 fish, including a 4.5 pounder. He came home with packaged fish and lots of stories. We’ll eat the fish, but his memories will last a lifetime.