The Ideas Kids Have

David Hugh Scott, carrying the net and wearing his auld man’s jacket.

The other day, we were fly fishing and the fish just weren’t biting. David and I were musing about why that might be when he grew quiet and pondered over the fishing net.

“Why are there holes in the net, Dad?” he asked.

“So that when you put the net in the water and net the fish, the water leaves the net as you bring it out of the water.”

“Oh! Right! Of course.”

I had a few more casts while David sat quietly watching. Then, “Still no fish going for your fly, Dad. Maybe you should try another one.”

“Ok David, which fly do you think I should try?”

He continued looking at the net and finally said, “Hey! I have an idea! Why don’t we put a lot of different flies into the net, and then hold the net in the water. If the fish can see some flies they’d like, maybe they’ll just swim right into the net and we can lift the fish out of the water that way. And maybe we’ll be able to figure out which fly they wanted.”

I chuckled – at least he’s thinking!