Rick's latest article

As usual, it's a good one. I was throwing out some old fishing magazines recently, some of them going back to the early '80's. I found one "Field and Stream" that made the exact same argument: we're not teaching kids to fish or, at least, we're not teaching them well.

I think one reason is we try to get kids to do what we're now doing, not what we started doing. For example, several years ago Fish Fishburne (a BASS pro) had a "kid's" fishing show. It mainly centered on him giving fishing tips from the deck of a $30,000 bass boat. Mercifully, it had a short life. I've seen fly guys do similar things, like trying to get a six-year old to master fly casting. On one occasion, the kid was obviously struggling and could've actually caught some fish with simpler tackle, but the father soldiered on, intent on improving the kid's loops.

I'm thankful my dad started me out with a canepole and crickets. I caught fish and had fun. That's how I still teach kids today.

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Originally Posted by deathb4disco

As usual, it's a good one. I was throwing out some old fishing magazines recently, some of them going back to the early '80's. I found one "Field and Stream" that made the exact same argument: we're not teaching kids to fish or, at least, we're not teaching them well.

I think one reason is we try to get kids to do what we're now doing, not what we started doing. For example, several years ago Fish Fishburne (a BASS pro) had a "kid's" fishing show. It mainly centered on him giving fishing tips from the deck of a $30,000 bass boat. Mercifully, it had a short life. I've seen fly guys do similar things, like trying to get a six-year to master fly casting. On one occasion, the kid was obviously struggling and could've actually caught some fish with simpler tackle, but the father soldiered on, intent on improving the kid's loops.

I'm thankful my dad started me out with a canepole and crickets. I caught fish and had fun. That's how I still teach kids today.

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I can't agree with you more. We need to get them interested in the sport. A youngster probably just wants to catch some fish -- aleit bluegill, pinfish, sunfish, ladyfish or whatever. Action is the key.

As they continue, you can introduce more technical information and help them begin to specialize.

I think it's good to learn to fish before you graduate to fly fishing.

Someone no doubt will bring up that youngsters don't have a very long attention span. That's not always the case. I used to take a 6-year-old boy in my neighborhood fishing and he'd go at it for hours, not even wanted to break for lunch.

My daughter, on the other hand, couldn't hardly last an hour. What was exciting to the boy was boring to her.

Not all youngsters will find fishing as fascinating as others. But it's cool to find one that loves the sport and help him/her along.

I know that I wasn't up for flyfishing until a few years after I started.

I could not agree more. I remember my Dad starting me out with a cane pole and then I got the prize! I remember it well...the rod blank was white with red thread wraps! It was just beautiful! The reel was black with the white push button on the back! It was the Zebco 404 and I was on cloud 9! I had me a real fishing rod and reel just like the big boys! A Zebco rod and Zebco reel! I would fish for maybe 30 minutes and then I could put a 2 inch diameter red/white bobber on the line and see just how far I could cast that baby! It would go for a mile! What fun I had! Soon I discovered catching fish and I got more serious and (if I must say so) I got real accurate with placing the hook with the cricket on it right where I was aiming and I got to catching fish big time. I got better at catching than the big boys and that made me proud. Yes, those were the days that led to 30 years of bass tournaments and now fly fishing. I quit the bass tournaments because of the crowds on the lakes, the cheaters in the tournaments, jet skis, etc. plus all of a sudden, fishing was not fun anymore. I sold the bass boat and a friend told me to go to the river and try a fly rod. That was 14 years ago and I only wish that I had picked up that fly rod 30 years ago. I sure have missed out on a lot of fun, but, I am doing my best to make up for it! I fish for everything with a fly rod, tie my own flies, teach a fly tying class and help a lot of younger anglers with this great sport. I really think everyone should have started this way.

I started my kids with a stick and 1 foot of mono , #20 hooks and laying on our stomachs catching bull heads. When they were a little bigger we laid on our stomaches at the dock and caught lemon sole. It teaches you how to tease the fish into striking. If you can catch a bull head you can catch a ling cod Salmon, all kinds of rock fish and even giant halibut . Which were plentiful on the island that we lived on. Also teaches you to watch out for the spines. Better to get stuck with 10 bullheads than one black cod. Trust me on this one.

Having had both a dad and a granddad - and having been both a dad and a granddad - I have come to this conclusion.

Dad's shouldn't teach kids to fish. *Granddads* should teach kids to fish. ;)

Hide Hunter, you've hit an incredible homer . . . except it was my mother (grandmother, of course to the kids) who taught me to fish. With a willow stick and hook. My dad went fishing once in his life and wondered what we found fun about it. His fun was hopping on his horse after a day of work on the farm and riding around looking at his cattle. Two or three times a week. JGW

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Originally Posted by HideHunter

Having had both a dad and a granddad - and having been both a dad and a granddad - I have come to this conclusion.

Dad's shouldn't teach kids to fish. *Granddads* should teach kids to fish. ;)

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My dad didn't teach me how to fish. He didn't know how. But my interest was so great that he learned and we traveled all over the country fishing.

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Originally Posted by SteveGibson

My dad didn't teach me how to fish. He didn't know how.

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Unfortunately, many kids today grow up with little or no contact with dad or granddad. I helped some friends of mine put on kid's fishing events over the last few years, and the group make up is always the same: loads of single moms with kids in tow.

My dad was a great fisherman - still is. But I remember, "Sit still. Don't move the bobber. Be quiet - you'll scare the fish."

But with Grandpa, I could run around the pond, throw rocks, toss the same fish back in (still on the hook) and catch him over and over.

Then, when I was teaching my son it was, "Sit still....etc, etc."

But now I have grandkids. When we took my step-grandaughter for the first time my son started right in telling her she was doing it wrong. I told him, "Hey! You just go over there and fish. Delaney and I can handle it just fine over here." I run him off and we had a ball. We learned to cast, bait the hook, ran around, threw rocks, chased frogs and even caught some fish.

Granddads should teach kids to fish. ;)

deathb4: good for you. I've been involved in Kid's Days for 26 years now. Taught literally hundreds (actually, into the thousands) of kids to fish. I always say, "It might be kind of hard to stop the anti-hunters but give me a group of kids, and a good bluegill pond, and I'll de-rail that anti-fishing nonsense in one afternoon." ;)

Hi All,

Hey I am ready for this "grandpa" teaching grand kids to fish stuff! I don't have any grand kids yet, but hope to have one in the next few months. (Will be the first grand kid and first nephew/niece on both sides.) (The grandpa on the other side is as eager as I am I think. He is also a fly fisherman.) It would be fun for us to take the kid together.)

I suspect it will take a few years for the kid get big enough to take fishing but I can wait. I agree, it will be more fun to teach grandkid to fish than my own kids...I am more patient now.

Rick is right on the money! The state game departments are now focused on MONEY...and LOTS OF IT, the more the better. There is a lot more money in big bass boats, bass tournaments, motel rooms, travel expenses for travel half way across the state to compete, trophy fish, etc. than there is in families taking the kids fishing. How much money goes into the tax fund, into the motel and resturant business, etc., from a family buying Snoopy rods and a container of worms?

A perfect example is in a small town where we used to drive to for Church on Sunday. The town had a beautiful small city lake. The water was clear, and it had a sand beach where city kids used to swim. The pond had excellent bluegill and crappie fishing, and some nice bass fishing too. Kids and parents used to fish there.

Well, someone at the state fish and game convinced the city to put in "Trophy" fish, so they put stripers in the city lake. Of course, they decided that the lake also needed shad, and plenty of them, to feed the stripers. You can guess what the lake is like now. The water is muddy (I think because of the shad), and kids don't swim in it any more. The bluegill beds are gone, because the voracious stripers ate them. Now there are almost no bluegill or crappie left. Families don't fish there any more because the bluegill and crappie that can be caught with simple methods and worms are gone. A friend told me that every now and then someone catches a 5 lbs striper. Wow, is this an improvement? My friend and I both think not.

In fact, the fish and game department have done the same striper and shad combination in a number of what used to be superb county and city lakes. The results have been similar in other places. Well, the tackle shops sell more striper plugs, and the shops make more money on one or two plugs than on a dozen minnows or two or three boxes of worms...but the price is high. Too high.

The affect on fishing is just one symptom. It has similar affects on other types of hunting and fishing, and the goal is not to make things better for the local family man, hunter and fisherman. It is all about money for the resturants, hotels, outfitters, etc. Folks who have lobies the contribute money to state political types. Chamber of Commerence view.

Makes you sick. Who cares about families, kids, and the ordinary local who just wants to hunt and fish close to home, and doesn't think he can afford a hunting or fishing lease.

Rick go ahead and rant...there are a lot of us with you. We fly fishermen are in the later category.....there aren't many of us, mostly we don't want to fish in tournaments, we like to fish for crappies and bluegill, and in general we aren't going to bring millions into the coffers of the resturant and hotel businesses.

In fact Rick, I guess I just finished a rant too.

Regards,

Gandolf