One Sunday after church, my wife and I decided to go to the creek for the afternoon. When we told our 10-year-old daughter, she got this death-scene look on her overly dramatic little face, and announced that she didn't want to go.

"I don't like to fish," she added.

That particular Central Texas creek looks like it came off a calendar picture. Clear water crashes over large boulders and falls a couple of feet into a pristine pool below. You can see the bottom, and a number of perch -- now and then a bass or a turtle. Cottonwood trees surround the creek and reach to the sky, providing ample shade. There's always a belted kingfisher screeching at you, and usually a cardinal calling in the woods nearby. Occasionally a rabbit or a deer shows itself. Oddly, there usually are no other people there.

My point: There's often a lot more to do around water than just fish. I'm not sure my wife and I even took fishing poles that afternoon. We just wanted to be, and that was a good place to do it.

Our daughter, a voracious reader, could have found plenty to do. Everybody needs to get off the couch or from in front of the computer or television and get outside. I've written thousands of words sitting by the creek, listening to nature and the sounds of my own mind, freed from the uncivil clash of civilization.

That's what this article is about: finding things for the whole family to do on a vacation that revolves around fishing. It's easy to do.

That sassy little 10-year-old has now grown up and catches more fish than I do -- including chalking up several 28-inch-class redfish to her credit. But she still takes a book or two, and often combines other activities with her fishing.

You can, too.

Before I get into deep water by omitting Texas' hottest lake and best-known frontier tourist attraction, let me explain why this article won't cover Lake Alan Henry and the Big Bend area to any great extent. Both are in West Texas -- which I dearly love. But Bob Hope once described that part of the world as "miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles." On a family vacation, don't head west unless you are prepared for a lot of "Are we there, yet, Mommy?" And once in the Big Bend, about the only fishing you can expect is catfishing in the Rio Grande.

Alan Henry lies where the Rolling Plains of Texas meet the Panhandle. It's a hot bass lake, to be sure, but it may not be the ideal family vacation destination for folks living east of Interstate 35. If there's anything in Lubbock or Amarillo that attracts you -- like Palo Duro Canyon -- include a side trip to the lake. If you're taking the family to the mountains in New Mexico or Colorado, it'd be a good West Texas stopover. Otherwise, not a lot of tourist attractions seem to be on offer between Snyder and Post.