She was nine years old, I took her out on a boat
Broke out the tackle box and started to troll
One hit the line and she reeled it right in
Then she did it again and again with an innocent grin
She looked up at me asking,
Dad, why they call it fishing,
not catching?
I said sometimes you hook em,
sometimes you don't
Some days they almost jump in the boat Some of them are keepers,
some you throw back
Baby girl,
life is like that You just gotta keep on casting and wishing
That's why they call it fishing
Ten years later she was out on a roll Came
home from college with her heart broke
One pretty spring day we were out on the water Just having a talk,
father and daughter
And I said,
do you remember back when you were asking?
This is why they call it fishing,
not catching
I said sometimes you hook em,
sometimes you don't
Some days they almost jump in the boat Some of them are keepers,
some you throw back
Baby girl,
life is like that You just gotta keep on casting and wishing
That's why they call it fishing
Now she's married,
got a kid Takes her fishing like I did
When she looks up at her asking,
Mom,
why they call it fishing, not catching?
She said sometimes you hook em,
sometimes you don't
Some days they almost jump in the boat Some are keepers,
some you throw back
Baby girl,
life is like that You just gotta keep on casting and wishing
That's why they call it fishing