My son is OBSESSED with fishing! For his 8th birthday, we let him invite 7 friends to our lakeside cabin for an overnight Gone Fishin' party. Many boys had never been fishing so they were very excited. The water level was down so the boys could fish from the rocks right off our dock. We also made sure everyone had a lifejacket.  My husband began by laying down the safety rules and expectations.  We had extra hands on deck for helping with baiting hooks, and getting knots out! Every child caught several fish.  We gave each child a fishing nickname, my son is Kingfish.  We had a Huck Finn, Bluegill, etc. I took pictures of each one and sent these with my son's thank you notes. After several hours of fishing, the kids were starving so we let them go on a stick hunt to find the perfect stick for roasting hotdogs and marshmallows for Smores.  My husband the went over fire safety rules and expectations.  We roasted hotdogs and ate. My husband also fried up some of the keepers we were able to catch.  They loved eating what they caught and watching my husband clean the fish was also a big event! I had a largemouth bass shaped, realistic looking cake made by a lady in our town. It was awesome!  It even had a shimmer like the real fish!  It didn't however taste like fish-whew! Party favors were fishing lures, bobbers, fish candies, goldfish crackers and baseball cards, his other obsession. That night, they played flashlight tag, homerun derby, traded baseball cards and watched movies.  Everybody brought their sleeping bags and they crashed before midnight-the real miracle! This was such a great party that he wants a repeat for his 9th birthday.  I think we will tie-dye shirts this year as an added bonus and do dirt pudding in lieu of a cake. We also may have the kids make bamboo poles instead of dealing with the tangled fishing wire this year! His friends who didn't get to go last year are already asking when this years's party is so they don't miss it! Invitations read:  Kingfish AKA: Jameson is turning 8! He's gone fishin' and wants you to come along! We used fishing clip art and rustic paper.