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“Hook the Future” revolves around fishing – but it’s about a lot more than landing lunkers. It’s also about empowering your children. The show is hosted by Don Dingman, an expert angler who lost his 22-year old son, Brian, in 2004. This inspired Don to produce this program to show other parents how important it is to spend quality time with their own kids.
Going out fishing 3 times a month with his own dad, Don learned how precious that parent/child connection is, and how the best way to teach a kid to do something, is to simply let him do it. Don says, “When you take kids fishing let them drive the boat, let ’em fight the fish...that’s how they learn…when you teach ’em basketball or football you don’t watch TV all day…you let them get in there and play.” Of course, it doesn’t hurt that “Captain Don” has a great sense of humor and that kids instantly love him.
Each week, Captain Don takes a fresh crew to a new adventure. Among last year’s episodes was a trip off Jacksonville’s shores to catch bull redfish, a sail up the Florida’s Crystal River to hook trout, and a journey to exotic Costa Rica to battle sailfish. In each episode, the kids are the prime movers – from piloting the boat to landing fish as big as they are.
Spend some time watching “Hook the Future” with your kids – it just might be a half-hour that returns many times your initial investment.
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Capt. Don Dingman
Host
Capt. Don got hooked on fishing as a small fry – he was just 4 when he landed his first Speckled Perch. He’s still hooked. Don was home-schooled as a pre-teen; the great outdoors was his playground and fishing was his Little League. By high school, he was spending his summer vacations working part-time on shrimp and commercial snapper boats.
In his 20s, Don became a Captain, buying his first offshore boat, and competing in Marlin tournaments. Nowadays, Capt. Don’s greatest pleasure is passing his passion for fishing on to others.
Someone who absorbed that passion was his beloved son, Brian. But in 2004, Brian, an avid fisherman himself, passed away. Brian was Don’s inspiration to produce “Hook the Future” and it’s dedicated to his memory.
Don says, “[The show] is not just about fishing. It's about taking that big step back and realizing what is more important in life. It's about taking time for your kids, giving them more love, and more of yourself. The rewards are greater than anything else in life.”
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