Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
One of the great privileges of being a charter captain and fishing guide is having the opportunity to take a lot of children and young adults fishing. From four-year-olds who can barely hold a rod, to teenagers who are on a path to becoming top-dog anglers themselves some day, it’s an honor to play a part in the introduction of young folks to the sport, the art and the lifestyle that hovers around those who have a passion for fishing.
Parent, friend, relative or captain, anyone who has a hand at guiding children into the realm of recreational fishing assumes a hefty responsibility to do things right. First impressions can make or break a child’s desire to go fishing ever again, so adults need to start them off on a good track right out of the gate. Over the years we’ve taken a lot of families out fishing and witnessed parents do a lot of great things with their children as well as a pull off a number of blunders that probably didn’t help to inspire their youngster to ever want to go fishing again. Maybe the following few observations will help someone avoid such consequences with their own kids.
I have a niece who came out fishing with me back when she was about four years old. It was a warm but drizzly day in May and we planned to fish just for an hour and hopefully catch a flounder. Unfortunately the flounder weren’t exactly feeding that afternoon and all she managed to hook was a skate. Fortunately my niece didn’t know that skates are pretty much considered by many fishermen to be at the bottom of the trash fish barrel, and I wasn’t about to let her in on that little bit of information. Right then and there that skate was the greatest catch in the world because it was “her” catch and she wouldn’t have been any happier if it was a ten-pound flounder. We focused on the fact that she had caught something without suggesting a thing about it being any kind of sub-quality fish, so she was happy and enthusiastic about catching a lowly skate. Most of the time kids just want to catch fish, any fish. It’s not until they start “growing up” that they learn to be disappointed if they hook something other than what they set out to catch. Whether it’s a skate, an oyster toad, a sea robin or a white marlin, adults should never stand in the way of kids feeling happy about anything they catch.
Just like the rest of us, kids will get the most enjoyment out of their fishing experience if they can use tackle that’s appropriate for the size and type of fish they are catching as well as their own size and physical limitations. You can’t expect a six-year-old to fight a fish on 50-pound conventional stand-up tackle anymore than you could expect them to land a tuna on a little Snoopy rod. There has to be the proper balance between what a child is trying to catch and what they are trying to catch it with, and there might be times when the tackle or the target species just won’t mesh with a child. A young child fishing from the dock for little spot or pinfish is going to have a much more enjoyable time with a Snoopy rod than if Dad sets them up with a seven-foot spinner. Little kids have little hands and limited strength, Dad might want in the worst way for his kid to catch a hefty tuna without anyone’s help, but he’s got to face the reality that he’ll have to wait for his child to grow up enough that he or she can physically make it happen.
That’s not to say that children can’t fish for and land big fish. They certainly can, but not without adult assistance in one-way or the other. I’m not going to say that it will be easy, but if there’s “a will” there’s always “a way” to help a child land a fish if the crew is eager to make the effort. Let’s say there’s a 50-pound tuna on the line and an 8-year-old on the rod. That makes for a pretty one-sided match-up with the fish holding most of the cards. But if the child is able to sit in a fighting chair and someone else is able to brace the rod either in front of him or her or hold onto it from behind, then all the child needs to do is crank the reel. The person holding the rod can even work it up and down and coach the child when to crank and when to stop.
If a chair is not available and the fish needs to be fought while standing up, the adult can hold the rod with it’s butt in their right hand and the foregrip in their left hand while the child stands on handle side of the rod and cranks. Trust me, with a big fish this tactic is no picnic for the adult holding the rod. In fact, it would be a lot easier on them than if they were holding the rod the proper way and cranking it themselves, but it will get the job done of landing the fish while allowing the child to play an active role. Providing that the boat can be turned as necessary to follow the fish, Kids can also do the “Wicked Tuna” thing and leave the rod in the rod holder and just crank the reel.
“Simple fun” is what adults should strive for when they’re fishing with children. This is not a time to get into technical angling. Someone once said that they always tell their kids that they are “going out to have fun and try to catch some fish.” I’ve always liked how that sounds because the verbiage puts “fun” ahead of “catching fish”. And then instead of saying that they were “going out to catch some fish”, he says that they are “going to “try and catch some fish.” Therefore, just getting out and fishing makes for a successful day, regardless of what is or is not caught.
Some anglers get so passionate about their fishing that whenever the action gets hot they start yelling and cussing and carrying on like crazy people. While such behavior might be somewhat tolerable among a group of adult fishing buddies, there is no place for it whenever there are children present. There is NEVER a time when it is appropriate to cuss in front of children and that certainly includes when they are out having fun on the water. The message kids need to get out of fishing is that it’s a wonderful way to enjoy quality time outdoors with family and friends and not that when things get exciting it’s OK to forget about good manners and self control.
Above all else, adults who take children fishing must be 100% patient with them under all circumstances and never allow them to be subject to anything or any situation that would jeopardize their safety.
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
