Teaching a Child to Fish

Well, the Pizzmeister has decided that he wants to take up fishing as a hobby because he is weird and wants to eat something he himself catches.   

Don't get me wrong here.  

I love fishing, especially fly-flishing, because I ensure that I  don't ever catch anything, and, in doing so, I have an excuse to just chill out in the peace and quiet for a while, but, for some reason, I doubt my 4 year old will find that as appealing as I do, seeing as he is the master of chaos!

This leads me to a dilemma.

Do I learn and teach the boy to fly fish, or do I try to learn to use a spincast or baitcast rod properly and teach him that?

For real, I have been fishing for years, but I am the worst fisherman ever!

This is truly a dilemma because this year I actually want to catch some fish so the brat can see what it is, and the last thing I want to do is disappoint him on his first "real" fishing outing with me.  

The other thing I am apprehensive about is that he also wants to eat a fish he catches.  He wants to see what it is all about, and he wants to take part in the cleaning and filleting because he is curious about the process of how our food goes from animal to consumable food.

Ok.

I am all about showing him that, if he is really desirous of the knowledge, but I have no idea how he'll react.  I mean, it isn't like knowing where eggs come from, and going to grandma's and gathering them up from the coop.

He's going to observe me dispatching a live animal.

I don't know whether he will see that as a monstrous act or what, and the last thing I want to do is scar the poor kid!  But, if he really wants to know where our food comes from, I want to be the one that shows him, so Mama Bear and I can explain it to him under our terms.

It's not some glorious and triumphant act to be displayed on a wall. It's not thrilling. It's not anything to be particularly proud of.  It's a harvest that provides sustenance. 

Hopefully, I am up for the task.