Fishing with Your Kids
First and foremost, you need to catch fish. Nothing creates the potential for boredom more than a fishing pole that just sits there with no fish biting! Pretty soon the children are wondering why they are there to begin with and fishing with your kids goes from a great idea to a very bad one in a matter of a few minutes. There are many things you can do to increase your odds of catching fish, giving the kids the excitement that will keep their interest.
Go fishing with the kids in the early morning or late afternoon; these are the peak times for most species of fish to bite. During the summer, after supper is the optimal time to gather the equipment and head to the local fishing spot. If the kids are too young to bait their own hooks and cast out, you need to forget about doing any fishing yourself and concentrate on their needs. It’s no fun for a kid to stand around and watch you fish.
Proper equipment is crucial to success when fishing with your kids. Do not bother with those “kiddie” poles that cannot stand up to the rigors of actual fishing. An inexpensive spinning reel and rod will do the trick; you aren’t going after world records, you simply want to catch fish. A spinning reel is the easiest type for a youngster to learn to cast with. If they are old enough to cast, make sure you put them in a spot way from trees and brush that will snag your child’s line and hook. Find an open area along the river bank or shore of the pond. Nothing is more frustrating while fishing than having to break your line, tie another hook on, rebait it and cast again, only to get caught up in the same branch or log!
If you are fishing with your kids at a small pond, there are two species of fish that you can usually target- bullheads and pumpkinseeds. All you need for bait are night crawlers, which you can catch yourself on any damp spring or early summer evening. Get the children involved in this, by letting them go out and catch them for themselves. All they need is a flashlight and a bit of coaching. Catching the worms will be almost as much fun as catching the fish. If you need to buy your bait, many convenience stores actually sell worms during the fishing season. Night crawlers can be kept in a container in your refrigerator for weeks; only be sure that everyone knows what is in that container to avoid unwanted surprises.
Once you are at the pond, space the kids out so they will have their own areas to fish and avoid tangling their lines. You do not need to use floats or bobs. Have a number four snelled hook tied to the line with a pair of split shots secured about eighteen inches up from the hook. A snelled hook is a hook that comes already attached to a short piece of monofilament with a loop tied at the end. You can tie it right to your line; the number of the hook, in this case a number four, is an indicator of the hook’s size. The split shot will give you or your child added weight on the line, allowing the line to be cast further.
Hook the night crawler on and cast out. Place a forked stick into the ground and lean the pole against it. When the fish bite, your child will see the line start to move. It will either begin to go out as the fish runs with the bait or there will be a distinct jerking motion that your child can easily detect as the end of the rod as it snaps back and forth. Now is when you have your child pick up the rod and try to set the hook. Teach them not to simply reel the line in, but to give the line a good, quick yank in an attempt to hook the fish. They will be able to tell in an instant if the fish is on by the tension and feel of the line. Have them reel in, but not too fast, always being sure not to let the line go slack. Pumpkinseeds, a common pond dweller, are small in size, but their streamlined shape allows them to put up a great fight for their stature. They will zigzag to and fro in the water until your child can land them. They have sharp spines on their back fins that need to be avoided. It is important for your child to learn how to properly handle a fish once it has been caught, so as to be able to release it unharmed. Show your child how to hold the fish and remove the hook, teaching them not to be afraid of doing this. Until your child is old enough to handle this alone, you will be doing the removing, as well as putting on the worm and casting out.
Bullhead will bite one right after another on a good day, and they can keep you running from child to child as they land them or lose them. Let your child either catch the fish or be responsible for it getting away, as this will help them learn what they did right or wrong. They will get a feel for when the fish are biting, when to set the hook, and how fast to reel in. Eventually, they will be able to hold the pole and know when the fish are biting, without having to lean it against the stick. If you are going to be fishing with your kids at a river, add more split shots so you can cast out further. Rivers are more unpredictable in that there are many more species of fish that can be caught; trout, bass, white and yellow perch, suckers, pumpkinseed, and carp are commonly caught on night crawlers here in the Northeast. The potential is there for your kid to hook some decent sized fish; avoid the temptation to jump in and land the “big one”.
Fishing with your kids at a river can be made even more fun by assigning each species of fish a point value. The more desirable the fish, such as a bass or trout, the higher number it is assigned. Have your kids keep track of how many points they have accumulated, with some sort of reward or prize going to the winner. Teach them to be sure to leave the pond shore or riverbank the way they found it, litter and garbage free. If the fish are not biting, a pair of binoculars can come in handy as there is bound to be something of interest around the water, whether it’s a kingfisher, a mallard, or a muskrat.
Fishing with your kids can be great fun, enhanced by their learning to appreciate the outdoors and actually catching fish. Put yourself and your children in a situation where they have the best chance to succeed, and you and they will look forward to spending this time together long after they have grown up!
