By Noey Vineyard
If you’ve read any of my previous articles, you know how much fun families can have together fishing. You know that I’m very big on teaching kids not only how to fish, but teaching them to respect the outdoors and Mother Nature. Children will eventually develop their own view of Mother Nature and what aspects they appreciate most. Getting them started fishing is a good way to begin, but unfortunately, just taking them fishing is not enough to spark their interest. You have to catch fish. Later in their life the actual catching of fish may not be that important, but to get them started you have to catch fish.
I believe it must be documented that a five-year-old with a fishing rod that is not catching fish has the attention span of 23.5 seconds. Trust me on this. When the interest in fishing is gone, that’s when little fingers start exploring all the colorful things in the tackle box when you are not looking, usually with bad results, as most of the colorful things in the tackle box have very sharp hooks.
When you take kids of different ages fishing, their attention span varies. So to avoid juggling fishing with the kids that are still interested in chasing the ones that aren’t, simply catch fish. I can think of no better candidate for this than the sunfish a.k.a. bream. Shellcracker and bluegill are just a few of the names for the same fish. These fish can be found in literally every body of water and have voracious appetites. They will bite any time of day and almost any kind of weather and are extremely abundant.
They’re also very durable which is good since kids seems to think that it’s necessary for the fish to flop around on the ground a little bit before being released. They will take almost any kind of bait to include crickets, worms, dough balls and a variety of artificial baits. I have even caught them on bits of chewing gum and tinfoil. To top it off, they make excellent eating, battered and pan fried in peanut oil, when you catch them big enough (appx 8-10 inches.) You can catch these fish right from the bank using any type of light tackle or even a cane pole if you prefer.
So give the reliable old sunfish a try. You will find him just as willing to bite as you are to catch them. But best of all, when your kids start catching them, they will think you are the greatest, and in today’s world, anything you can do to bring your kids closer to you is a good thing. I don’t know about you, but I like the way I feel inside when one of my kids looks at me in awe when I show them the little fishing tricks I’ve picked up throughout my life. I like the way that they ask me questions and are ready to believe any answer I give, because they trust me, and the way that they are not disappointed when I don’t know.
So, take your kids fishing and you might just catch your child’s imagination as well as their trust. Once you’ve done that, all things are possible. Good luck and see you next month, Blue Ridge.