My son caught a bream on his very first cast.

We were perched on the banks of the Brunswick River in Northern NSW on a sticky Sunday afternoon. He’d just turned 3 and barely the right side of nappies.

It was a very small fish, but a fish nonetheless and we were beside ourselves with joy. We snapped the obligatory photo and slipped it back into the drink.

He then caught a 15 inch flathead on his second cast.

I briefly wondered whether we’d birthed a fish whisperer before realising this was, in fact, a catastrophic way to begin a fishing hobby; a lifelong pursuit supposedly defined by the crushing absence of fish.

Sure enough, on every trip since, if there’s not a nibble within five minutes I get a very confident shake of the head that says: “Nah, no fish here, Dad.”

For most dads who didn’t grow up doing it, like me, fishing sits firmly in the ‘we should probably do that’ category. But it never quite happens, largely because it all seems a bit overwhelming. Gear, locations, licences, knots, and the very real fear of trying to unhook a fish without accidentally maiming it.

So I spoke to Will Millard. He’s a lifelong angler, BBC presenter and author of My First Day Fishing, to work out how you actually get started.

I was lucky, I grew up in the Fens with a river on my doorstep, so I was fishing from a really young age. I caught my first fish at about four, sat upon my grandad’s knee.

But the bigger thing, really, is that every kid has an built-in fascination with wildlife. I always think about something David Attenborough said: ‘when did you stop loving animals?’, because every child starts off obsessed with them but drift away as they get older. That natural enthusiasm for animals gets replaced by other things, and I think that’s a real tragedy. 

So the trick is holding onto that enthusiasm, and I think there’s no better way than fishing to harness that passion because it taps into that curiosity in a really direct way. I’ve always wanted to get as close as possible to animals, and when you catch a fish you can actually hold it, look at it properly, appreciate what it is. You can’t get much closer than that. And I’ve never taken a kid fishing who hasn’t come away with something from the experience.

Fishing’s a game you can’t really lose. With an Xbox or ipad game you’re always working towards an end point. You complete it, you move on. But with fishing, once you’ve got the bug, you realise it’s endless. There’s always something new to learn, somewhere new to go, another fish to catch. It’s something that can stay with you for your whole life, and it keeps pulling you back outside at the same time.

It’s much simpler than people think. From the outside, fishing can look quite technical and a bit intimidating, especially if you’ve got no background in it, but once you’re actually there doing it, you realise it’s pretty accessible.

It’s actually the biggest participation sport in the UK, so there are people fishing everywhere, for all sorts of species, in all sorts of places. The tricky bit is just getting over that initial hump where you don’t know what you’re doing.

Keep it really basic. A rod and reel, a few floats, some hooks and weights, a landing net and a mat, plus your licence, that is more than enough to get started.

Where people go wrong is thinking they need loads of gear or understanding loads of different techniques straight away. In reality, it’s best to start with simple float fishing, and that’s all you need to catch your first fish.

Once you’ve done that, then you can start exploring the rest of it. But at the beginning, simpler is always better.

Commercial fisheries are a great place to start because they’re stocked with fish, so you’ve got a much higher chance of catching something. You just pay for a day ticket and you’re good to go.

Then you’ve got club waters, where you join and get access to a range of places, and also free waters like canals and rivers.

But one of the best things you can do is go into your local tackle shop. That’s something people overlook now because everything’s online, but those shops are run by local legends who know exactly what’s working locally.

If you walk in and say, ‘I’ve never fished before, I’ve got £50-£70, can you help me get started with my kid?’,  they’ll sort you out. It’s in their interest for you to succeed, and you’ll learn a huge amount just from that conversation.

Honestly, it’s just about having fun. Catching a fish helps, and I’d definitely recommend going somewhere you’re likely to, but it’s not the whole story.

I was at a funeral recently and ended up fishing a pond next to the church with my godson after the service.. We saw a carp, got the bait into its mouth, but it spat it out and we didn’t catch it in the end. But we had a brilliant time trying, making little plans, figuring things out, being completely absorbed in it. 

You can fish for half an hour, then go off and explore, look for tadpoles, turn over rocks, see what else is there. Fishing isn’t just about catching fish, it’s about being outside and engaging with everything around you.

Snacks. That’s probably the most important thing! But also, don’t make it all about the fishing itself. I’ll often bring things like rope so we can mess about, tie things up, climb around, just give it a bit of variety.

In the summer, it’s easier because kids can wander, explore, look for wildlife. In the winter, you’ve just got to adapt. I’ll bring a bivvy, keep things warm and comfortable, and make it feel like an adventure even if the weather’s not great.

The key thing is that they associate fishing with having a good time. If they do that, they’ll want to come back, even if the fishing itself is slow.

Fishing’s quite unique in that it’s a real leveller. You and your kid are both starting from scratch, both figuring it out, both learning as you go, and that’s quite rare. In most sports, there’s a big difference between adult and child in terms of ability, but with fishing you’re on the same playing field. You get better together, which makes it a really beautiful thing to share.

Ultimately you’ve just got to go and try it. It’s not as daunting as it seems, and it’s a relatively cheap thing to get into, so you’re not risking much. If it doesn’t work out, you’ve spent about the same as a trip to the cinema or a pizza!

But if it does click, you’ve found something that can stay with you for life.