On a recent evening fishing trip with my two young sons, my four year old taught me an important lesson about simplicity. As usual, I brought everything and the kitchen sink. One heavy fishing rod for big catfish, a medium sized bait rod and a jigging rod. Each of these fishing rods was set up with nice reels, heavy fishing line and fancy, three way rigs designed to optimize the fishing experience.

My four year old? He had a small stick with a four-foot piece of 8 lb test and a small hook tied to it. An invention inspired by him. During our last outing he told me “make me a fishing pole, daddy!” So I did. I did it just to give him something to play with, not expecting him to catch anything with it.