As we turn the corner into our second spring of
COVID and everyone is getting restless.
The kids are chomping at the bit to get outside and run around and
you’re probably just a little bit sad that some of your usual spring activities
are still on hold. If you’re searching
for a new activity to try with your kids that is safe and socially distant, you
might want to take up fishing. It gets
your kids outside, they’ll love it, and there are few places more socially
distant than the middle of a lake.
Win-Win-Win.
There’s only one small problem: fishing is hard, or less
you would have already done this. No
worries. I’ll get you up and running so
you can have a fun day fishing with your kids in Connecticut. Indeed, I have an entire website devoted to
helping parents learn how to fish with their kids, www.fishingfather.com, but this article
will give you all the practical knowledge you need to get going.
In this article, I’ll set you up with the proper gear
without wasting your money, help you find a fishing spot in Connecticut (or
elsewhere) that works well with kids, teach you how to catch a fish, and give
you some tips to help you save a day when things don’t work out, so you can
still be the hero. Interested? Then read on.
Gear Up
Before you can take your kids fishing, you need to buy or
borrow some gear. Do yourself a favor:
leave the kids at home while you go get this.
If you bring your children with you, I guarantee you that you’re leaving
the store with a rod that “looks cool” as opposed to a rod that “makes
sense.” Remember, this could turn into a
life-long passion. Why buy a little
princess rod that your daughter will only want to use for a year or two before
it becomes embarrassing to her?
Rod & Reel
I once wrote an entire article on what the best fishing rods are for
kids, but I’ll cut to the chase: get your kid an Ugly Stik that is about
4’6” to 5’ long for little kids (2-7) and 6’ long for older children. You want something light and small enough
that they can use comfortably.
I do recommend a spinning rod (this will be right on the
label) as opposed to a casting rod. The
difference, essentially, is what type of fishing reel pairs with them. Spinning rods accept spinning reels. Casting rods accept baitcasting reels (which
are a big NO-NO for kids) and spincast reels (which some people recommend for
children, but I view as unnecessary and wasteful as they’ll soon fall out of
favor from most anglers).
Some Ugly Stiks come with a reel, which is fine. If yours doesn’t, you’ll need to buy
one. I recommend getting one that is on
the smaller size as it balances better and is easier for kids to use.
Fishing Line
You will also need some fishing line if your combo
doesn’t come with one. I’ll make it
super simple for you. Use Berkley
Trilene XL monofilament in 6lb test.
This is inexpensive, available everywhere, easy to work with, and strong
enough for most fish your kids will catch from shore.
Hooks, Weights, and Bobbers
Tackle shops can be overwhelming (though I prefer the
term, “breathtaking”). They don’t need
to be. All you need is a box of hooks,
and maybe a box of sinkers (weights). Don’t
bother with a bobber. I know
this may be counter-intuitive to you.
After all, when your grandpa took you out when you were a kid, he put a
bobber on, right? Well… Are you now a full-grown adult who is reading
an article about how to start fishing?
I guess that bobber didn’t enamor you, did it?
Anyway, move past those red and white bore-balls and just
buy a hook and perhaps some sinkers. Use
common sense when buying the hook. Buy
one that is small enough for a sunfish or other small species to get into its
mouth. I sometimes see rookies fishing
with enormous hooks and while I admire their optimism, I don’t recommend going all-in like that. Fishing with kids is about
catching quantity. Small
hooks do that.
As for weights, you can buy little sinkers that look like
teardrops, or you can simply scrounge up some nuts and bolts from home if you
prefer. Just make sure they’re relatively
small (I like 1/8 oz).
See – I told you this would be painless. You walked into a tackle shop filled to the
ceiling with all sorts of lures, but all you need to have fun with your kids is
a hook.
Where to Buy Your Fishing Gear
If you’re reading this in Connecticut, your best bets for
purchase is going to be Cabela’s in East Hartford, Bass Pro Shops in
Bridgeport, or one of the two Fishin’ Factories (Plantsville and Middletown). I
used to love going to Dick’s Sporting Goods, but they’ve recently remodeled
some stores (such as the one in Plainville) into giant leotard warehouses, so
not all of them carry fishing tackle anymore.
Call ahead!
Finding the Right Fishing Spot
If you aren’t that experienced at fishing, water looks
like water, right? Yet only some parts
of that water will be productive for catching fish. Much of this can be trial and error but there
are a few things to keep in mind:
1.
You need to find a spot that has enough
shoreline space for kids to cast and play near.
2.
This spot should be next to water that is at
least 3’ deep and preferably reaches 6’ with a cast.
3.
This water should be near some sort of cover
(meaning weeds, rocks, sticks, etc.) that fish can hide in.
4.
This cover should not be so thick that you can’t
effectively fish it without snagging your hook.
5.
This spot should be next to a playground or park
where you can move on to PLAN B if the fish aren’t biting.
If you want to find spots like this on your own, just
drive around and take a little walk. It
will be easy to see where most of the popular fishing spots will be because
they’ll be worn down and sandy from all the people standing and fishing
there. Bear in mind that these spots
fill up early. Note that I did write an
article with some great fishing spots in Connecticut that you can read here.
If you want another shortcut, you might install the
Fishbrain app. It’s a nifty little program that takes
satellite images of your local lakes (and they
all are on there)
and then allows its users to share data about where they caught fish. This is great because you can find the lake
or pond you’re taking your kids to and then zoom in to see where most of the
data entries are. If you find a spot
with many clusters, chances are it is a good fishing spot. As of writing, it costs $5.99/month. I know that may seem a little steep for
something your kids “might” like, but you can always cancel after your first
month. Anyway, you spent all that money
on a rod, reel, hooks, line, and sinker but you don’t want to toss $5.99 at an
app that will literally show you where to use them?
What is a Good Time to Try Fishing?
During most of the time of year you’d think about going
fishing (meaning, during warm weather) fishing is going to be best early in the
morning or late in the evening. Fish
tend to congregate in the shallows where they can be reached from shore during
these times and are feeding actively.
In Connecticut, May is a FANTASTIC month to go fishing
with your kids. This is because many
sunfish can be found extremely close to shore (so close that you can usually
see them). They are there to spawn their
own young, and to feast on the eggs of largemouth bass. They are very aggressive at this time,
concentrated, easy to find, and easy to catch.
“The Spawn” can continue through June in
Connecticut. Once you hit July, it is
mostly over, and aquatic vegetation growth is going to limit the places you can
reach from shore. While fishing is still
good, it becomes more challenging and will remain so until about September when
the cooling temperatures warn fish that it’s time to start feeding heavily and
they again become easier to target.
How to Catch a Fish
Notice that I entitled this section, “How to Catch A
Fish” and not “How to Catch a Trophy Bass.”
If you are taking your kids fishing for the first time, they do not care
what kind of fish they catch—they just want to catch something. A running theme of my blog and my book is
that every parent’s goal is to get a fish into the livewell or bucket as fast
as they possibly can. This means you’re
targeting sunfish first and foremost.
Catching sunfish isn’t that hard if you find a spot that
has them. It’s basically a matter of
putting a worm in front of their face and managing to hook them as they peck
away at it. Most of these little fish
have been caught so many times already that they know what the deal is and they
try to nibble away at the edges, but eventually, they’re going to make a mistake
and you’ll get them. Just make sure
you’re holding the rod when they bite so you can
set the hook quickly
and snag them.
I recommend using a technique called a “drop shot.” It is simply a hook that is tied about 12”
above a sinker, or weight. You cast it
out, and you hold onto the rod while you slowly work it back to
shore. Your child will feel every nibble
this way and get the full excitement of feeling a fish take its first run after
it feels the hook. This is much
better than having them stare at a bobber.
I’d recommend using worms such as nightcrawlers, but if
you can’t find any or are against that for moral / “yucky” reasons, then some
small 2” minnow-shaped lures from Berkley Gulp also work very well.
This
article will teach you exactly how to tie a drop shot and cast it out. Just make sure you’re holding onto the rod
while you’re fishing, so you can feel a bite.
When you get a nibble, set the hook by snapping your rod back a few
inches to drive the hook into the fish’s mouth.
Then, holler “fish on!” and hand it off to your child.
The handoff can be a bit tricky. Your main goal is to ensure that there is no
slack in the line when you give your kid the rod. Any slack will more than likely let the hook
slide out, so be sure to keep a tight connection before you hand off the rod to
your little one.
What to Do When the Fish Aren’t Biting
So, my son is going to start roller hockey on
Thursday. They have this little “learn
to skate” program at Plainville
Indoor Sports Arena that I signed him up for. I’m a bit concerned that he might hate it, or
it might not work out, so I’m pitching it to him as, “Let’s go to the rink,
learn to skate, and get a cotton candy Slushy afterwards!” This
way, if the skating doesn’t go so well, it still ends on a good note for him.
Apply this tactic to fishing. If you don’t make the trip exclusively about
fishing, then it cannot completely go wrong if the fish aren’t biting. Instead of saying, “Hey do you want to go
fishing?” ask, “Hey, should we go to the park?” Bring a ball with
you. Make a picnic. Include that treat your kids always ask
for.
You can also say things like, “Hey, let’s practice our casting”
rather than “Hey, let’s catch a fish.”
Then, if you do catch a fish, it’s super exciting, but if you don’t,
well, that’s not really what you set out to do in the first place.
You’re the one in charge, so you set the parameters. Don’t box yourself into a corner where you’re
going to “fail” if something as unpredictable and finicky as a fish doesn’t
play along.
If you really want to try and salvage a fish out of the
trip, bring a second adult along. One of
you should fish until you hook one and can call the kids over. The other should play with them and distract
them so they’re having fun. What you
don’t want to do is make the kids sit next to you, bored, while you stubbornly
keep trying. That’s a guaranteed way to
make them hate this great sport.
Fishing is a wonderful activity to share with
children. It has all the things they
love: water, slime, and animals. I
completely recommend that you try this with them this summer. After the kind of year we’ve had, it could be
just the ticket to break the monotony.
Even though it seems a little scary, you can do it. Keep things as simple as a worm on a hook,
have a Plan B, and leave the bobber at home.
I’ve sprinkled a few helpful hints in this article, but feel free to
visit my blog for more in-depth
help. You can also feel free to reach out to me directly. A friend of Jamie’s is a friend of mine and
I’d be happy to help you.
Have a great day for fishing,
John Paxton
Fishing with
Kids: A Parent’s Guide
FishingFather.com
