Family Fun

I have not been a fan of fishing for many years.  I used to fish with my grandparents whenever we would visit them, but I would NEVER touch the worm or the fish.  What ultimately turned me off of fishing (and eating fish for many years after) was watching my grandfather clean a fish that was pregnant.

I still don't like to fish (again touching worms and squirmy fish does not appeal).  I also don't like the idea of fishing for sport.  It seems cruel to hook a fish knowing you will be immediately releasing them (not to mention the poor worms).

Well, last night the golf course community where my in-laws live had a "Fishing Derby."  The goal was to catch the largest fish (we didn't).  They also had a contest to see who could catch the largest frog (again we didn't, but there were some HUGE ones caught).  Then all the frogs that were caught were raced against each other to see whose would win (not us again).

I've already stated my opinion on catching fish for the sake of catching fish.  But I think the poor frogs had it even worse.  They were also caught with hooks (interesting how well it worked I must admit).  But that was not the worst part.  Some of the kids were really rough with their frogs.  I watched kids throw them high into the air toward the finish line (rather than coax them to jump that direction).

I am happy to say that my kids were very gentle with their frogs.  Unfortunately, they both had frogs that once put at the starting line just sat there stunned.  They did eventually move back into the pond but it involved picking them up and moving them to the edge of the water.

As barbaric as this exercise seemed to me (and hubby too), the kids had a great time.  Their fish and frogs did seem fine when we let them go back into the water, so I guess it was a good night.