My 10 year old has really become hooked on fishing lately and with all the bluegill fishing we did during camping, he decided he was ready to put away the live bait and give bass fishing a try. Friday night we loaded up the boat and headed for the lake. By the time the weekend was over we fishing Friday night, Saturday morning and again Saturday night. He did a great job for the first time on the lake.
He had his own tackle box made up of lures from my extra stuff and I would let him decide what he wanted to use. I started him off with a good top water and a crank bait that Ive caught many fish on and let him make the changes from there. He made many changes, many that would yield him a catch. He used different top waters and cranks and then decided he was ready to make the move to plastics. He picked out a 4 inch robo worm, so we rigged it up on a shakey head and off he went. The charteruse tail was a huge help as the bluegill really pecked it to death, but these pecks was yielding jerks. His best catch of the weekend was an errant cast over a tree branch, through a bush, into the water, catching a bluegill, bringing the fish through all the obstacles and landing the fish. What a blast watching that! His final selection of the trip was a white fluke. It was a treat watching him taking his time and working the bait at different speeds and retrieves trying to catch a fish. He fired a cast along a laydown and when the bait reached the end of the tree, BAM! He had a nice hookup with a solid largemouth. He mananged 2 more hookups the rest of the night, but never got impatient or distraut, just kept casting.
As a tournament angler I learned something very important that sometimes I think we all forget, slow down and relax! A 10 year old was just there making casts and trying to make the bait do what it was supposed to do. That cast was the only thing he was thinking about, not the next cast or the next fishing spot or the fish that just came off.
I remember an article that Hank Parker wrote about taking a kid fishing. How many of you remember your dad taking you fishing and everytime you wanted to cast you would hear the old saying, You cant catch a fish if you dont leave the bait in the water! I know I heard this a ton as a kid, but I remember in the article of Hank saying just simply tell the child they have a better chance of catching fish if the bait stays in the water, but if they wish to cast, go for it. They are getting some good practice with casting. I made sure that he knew what each bait would do and the dos and donts with each and let him go from there, he handled the rest. By the end of the weekend, his casting was becoming very accurate and consistant. He was even varying his retireves on a rattle trap over a grass bed to try to draw a strike, which he did! When he made a mistake, I just reminded him of a way to keep from doing it again but didnt get upset at all.
This was one of the best fishing trips Ive ever had, even without catching many fish at all. He is very excited to go again and looking forward to getting back out there with him. I hope anyone who reads this enjoys reading it as much as I did being there. Im glad my dad took the time to take me fishing and teach me how to become a good fisherman that I can pass over to my kids.
A very special weekend that Ill never forget!
Skeeter
