‘Gone Fishin” Casts a Line to Dads

Remember those days growing up when the aroma of fine Virginia tobaccos would waft from your father’s walnut-paneled den, where he would puff away on his meerschaum amid a sportsman’s paradise of a room with fishing rods propped in the corner and the heads of big-game conquests mounted on the walls?

Well, I don’t either, but leave it to the History Channel to honor its traditional concept of Dear Old Dad with a week of specials aimed at the classic outdoorsman in his soul.

“Grab your fishing rod, tackle box and sleeping bag and join the History Channel for a little father-son bonding during ‘Modern Marvels: Gone Fishin’ Week,’ ” is how the channel is promoting its series of shows that begins tonight at 10 with “The Tackle Box,” an ode to angling.

I can’t wait for next Mother’s Day, when the programming will undoubtedly focus on cooking and sewing so mom and sis can have some special moments of their own.

Tonight’s hourlong program follows the development of fishing from a survival tactic for cave dwellers to a billion-dollar leisure industry that has spawned a million full-time jobs.

A smattering of Egyptian hieroglyphics indicates that when those folks weren’t busying themselves with those silly pyramids, they spent an awful lot of time dangling lines into the Nile. Innovations in equipment and techniques through subsequent centuries helped tremendously to popularize the sport. And nowadays, with ultralight graphite rods, high-tech lures and even underwater sensing devices, the poor fish don’t seem to stand much chance.

The series, a must-see for outdoorsy types and still interesting in a historical sense for others, continues through Friday with shows on hunting, camping and off-road driving. Somewhere on this Father’s Day week, Ernest “Papa” Hemingway must be smiling.