Article by Capt. Lance Smith
Fishing, especially saltwater fishing, is mostly viewed as a man's sport. Not just any man either. Look through any saltwater magazine and you will see advertisements depicting strong, masculine, unshaven men that look more ready to play rugby than tackle a tuna. Well, I have some news for you. The female side of angling is a force to be reckoned with! Some of the very best and most skilled anglers I have had the privilege of knowing were female. Not only are women an often overlooked segment of the fishing community, children are as well. There is absolutely no more dedicated angler on the planet than a 12 year old with his mind set on catching a fish.
More times than I can count, I have seen men in perfect physical condition hand off a tuna to another angler because they are whooped. In all my years of fishing though, I have NEVER seen a woman do the same. Last fall on an overnighter, I hooked a swordfish in the 150 lb. class on a light tuna jigging outfit. It was the closest rod with a live spot that I could pitch to the fish. I had forgotten that it was my sleeping mother's turn at the rod. In a flash, my 70 year old mother was at the transom and fought that fish standing up, in the dark, for over an hour before the hook pulled 10 feet from the boat.
Women, unlike men, listen to directions. If you tell them to lift slowly, and wind like hell going down on a big fish, they do it. If you ask a woman to wait until the right moment to net your flounder, she does it. As such, we should reward our lady anglers. There is more gear available today targeting female anglers than ever before. I often shake my head at the men I see wearing name brand fishing apparel from head to toe. Seriously guys, is this a fashion show or are you going fishing? Want to get your girl into fishing? Spend that money on her! Tell her that she needs a new wardrobe for this hobby and you've got her hooked.
Nowadays, there’s a myriad of both rods and reels that are custom colored for women. If the lady in question is new to fishing, make sure that she has equipment that she can easily operate as well. Don't buy her a baitcasting reel that she is going to backlash and get frustrated with as a first setup just because it is what you use. And don't take her to a pier or on the bridge during the wrong tide when you know chances are slim of landing a fish. Don't take women on a headboat full of sick people or on a charter of drunken frat buddies for her first experience. Instead, rent a boat and make a day of it. Don't just go fishing either. Stop at a sandbar and let her cool off or sit and sunbathe for a while. Take her to one of the many on-water restaurants for lunch and most of all, be patient. Trust me, in the end it will pay off and the money you are allotted to spend on fishing will increase ten-fold.
If you plan on taking a woman on an offshore charter make sure you get acquainted with your captain and mate first. Some are much more forgiving than others and the last thing you want is someone that you paid to be screaming at your new fishing buddy.Take the time to explain to her how everything works and why things are done the way they are. If you are knowledgeable in the area, tell her about the habits of your quarry and get her excited about what she is doing 60 miles offshore for 12 hours. Regardless of whether a woman tells you she gets seasick or not, try to get her to start taking Dramamine or Bonine a few days before your charter. This will get the medicine in her system and get her over the drowsy feeling often accompanied with these pills. Just remember what you are getting yourself into when you give a woman a fishing rod. You may find yourself very humbled when she continuously outfishes you.
Like some women, children often need coaxing to become genuine fisherman. Once they do however, look out! Kids never cease to amaze me when it comes to fishing. I will say this now and if you take one piece of advice from this column let this be it. When a child asks you a question about fishing, answer it! No matter how simple it may be, answer it. No matter how many questions come, answer them all and don't do so with a simple “yes” or “no”. Explain everything and do it with a smile on your face. The more questions they ask the better. As with taking your lady friend fishing, go somewhere where you know they are going to catch something. All of the local fishing piers, the Route 50 Bridge, the bulkhead from 2nd through 4th street and even the surf provide ample opportunities for kids to catch something. Provide them with an appropriately sized rod and reel and take the time to teach them how to properly use it. Even though you may be fishing for doormat flounder or trophy rockfish, scale down the tackle for junior anglers.
The Oceanic Pier, Northside Park and most other public areas have access to shallower waters where saltwater panfish are plentiful. Fish such as Norfolk spot, small sea bass and kingfish (in the surf) are the perfect species to target and should keep a child busy all day. Bloodworms, although expensive, are far and away the best bait to place on a kid's hook. Use #6 hooks or smaller and the appropriate amount of weight to keep their rig in place and prevent snags. Off of the Oceanic Pier (you don't even need a fishing license here!), cast their rig into the shallower waters at the beginning of the pier instead of off the end. There are normally plenty of spot and even some good sized kingfish in this area. Off of the bridge, stick to the shallower west side so their rig doesn't get constantly sucked into snags. If fishing from the bulkhead around 3rd street, have them drop their baited hook straight down instead of casting out into the East Channel.
Surf fishing can be perfect for kids. You can buy kingfish rigs at any local tackle store and they will be good to go. Bait up with small pieces of bloodworm first and then place a small strip of squid on the hook to anchor it securely and keep bait stealers at bay. You don't need a giant surf rod for this either. A regular 6 to 7-foot spinning rod with 12 lb. test is perfect for this situation. You don't need to cast a mile out when targeting kingfish and spot from the beach. Most of these panfish can be caught within 20-feet or so of the shorebreak. If you have been on the beach all day watching you children, try to fish in the deep water that they had to swim through to reach the sandbar. Just make sure they understand the importance of not dropping the reel in the sand and if they become bored and want to go swimming let them do so. Act excited about every little fish or crab a child catches and explain a little bit about what it is.
If you take a yearly vacation to Ocean City and usually stay on the beach side of Coastal Highway, try renting a place on the bayside on a canal. If you have children, this can keep them busy the entire week. Last weekend, while I was touch-up painting the boat and staining the teak, I managed to keep six children, from the ages of 9 to 14 busy and happy for two solid days while the weather stunk. The first thing that I did was to go buy them one of those long-handled nets with the fine white mesh. The amount of life that can be caught, examined and kept in a bucket by simply scraping a piling with one of these nets is astounding. Grass shrimp, amphipods, blue crabs, rock crabs, gobies, shiners and bull minnows can all be caught in a single swoop. I spent a little bit of time explaining what everything was and the differences between alewives (bunker), mullet, spot, pinfish, bull minnows and shiners. I also taught them the importance of adding fresh saltwater to their little bucket aquariums every half hour, so that their biology lesson wouldn't end up as a death sentence for the creatures.
There are also plenty of small fish to be caught on rod and reel in most of these canals. I gave the kids my ultralight rods rigged with tiny hooks and small split shot for weight. When they asked what to use for bait, I told them that they had to get in the water and use their feet to catch some clams. Once they caught clams, I taught them how to open them and what the best pieces were to use as bait. They caught small spot and too many pinfish to count. I gave them a minnow trap baited with dry dog food and showed them how bull minnows like to stick close to the bulkhead in the shaded, shallower boat slips. Within 2 hours I had a self sustaining group of kids that not only kept themselves entertained all day, but managed to catch enough bait for two days of flounder fishing once the weather cleared! When they needed a break, they simply grabbed their boogie boards and swam around in the canal. The one day they went to the beach, my sister told me that the kids couldn't wait to get back home and play around the docks!
When the weather did clear somewhat, we all went out flounder fishing in the pontoon boat. I found a spot out of the wind and baited the kids up with the big, live bull minnows and small spot they had caught. While my father and I jigged bucktails and GULP!, looking for larger flatties, those kids put us to shame. The three kids I had on board managed to catch at least four or five flounder a piece and the youngest, and most hardcore of them landed a nice 17" keeper. I caught one fish. Luckily dad made up for it with a 20-incher and a 19-incher to add to the stringer, but man did I feel good. Beside having to tie on a few new hooks and unhook some sea bass, they did everything else themselves.
So whether you are trying to get your best gal into fishing or teach a new generation about the sport, keep in mind that you aren't dealing with tournament-grade anglers. Be patient and kind, answer questions, and keep their interest piqued. Don't overlook even the smallest of details when preparing for a trip and make it the best you possibly can. There are plenty of charters available both in the bay and offshore with crews that are understanding of what you are trying to accomplish. Or buy your lady a nice pink and purple custom rod and rent a boat and make her smile. Perhaps you'll soon have not only a great fishing buddy, but a boat of your own!
Lance Smith is an outdoor writer and Captain of his family’s boat, the “Longfin”.