How to Fish Kid-Style

Enlarge Image Image Gallery A close examination of live bait appears to be as important as fishing to these boys. iStockphoto.com/Erin Castillo

Wise Fisherman Father (me, whispering): “OK, Josh, now watch that bobber v-e-r-r-y carefully. Don’t take your eyes off it. When a fish bites, it’ll pull the bobber under the water. Then you can catch him.”

Josh (poking his fishing rod into a mess of slime and algae at the pond’s edge and shouting): “Hey, cool, it’s a dead frog!”

Successful fishing, as any good angler will tell you, requires patience, attention to detail, manual dexterity, and the ability to remain still and quiet and undistracted for long periods of time.

Show me a child who possesses those traits, and I will show you a small alien from a distant planet. Or, at least, I’ll show you a child entirely unlike mine – or any other I’ve known.

Taking your son or daughter fishing can be the wonderful, joyful, rewarding outdoor experience that every parent envisions. But there’s a trick to it. You have to learn how to go fishing kid-style.

Here are some of the lessons my two young sons have taught me.

Keep it simple

Forget all that know-how you may have about technique, tackle and tactics – that’s the stuff of grown-up fishing. Youngsters don’t want to learn how to fish. They just want to throw a line and hook into the water and catch something.

For starters, choose simple, easy-to-use equipment. The classic (and least expensive) child-friendly fishing rig is a cane pole with a line about as long as the pole itself, plus a hook and bobber. To cast, the child just swings the line and baited hook out over the water and lets it drop. To store or carry the setup, you simply wrap the line in a spiral around the pole and stick the hook’s point into the cane. Nothing could be simpler.

My boys, though, insisted on what they considered a “real” fishing rod and reel. A simple, push-button-type, closed-faced spinning reel is the best choice for most youngsters. It’s easy to use, relatively inexpensive, not as prone to line snarls as other types, and generally stands up better to wear and tear.

Most tackle shops and discount stores sell beginner’s outfits that include a 5-foot fiberglass rod and a push-button reel spooled with 10-pound-test line for about $15. You can also buy reel-and-rod combos that come with a toddler-size 24-inch rod – just right for small, not-quite-coordinated hands.

Keep the rest of the tackle simple, too. A few hooks, some small bobbers and a package of split-shot weights are all you really need. If you can, though, spring for one “extra” item: Youngsters like having their own tackle box to carry.