Why are My Fishing Outings so Unsuccessfull?

[waskeyc]

This past weekend I went on a long-anticipated fishing/camping trip with three of my sons (7, 5, and 1.5) and an adult friend. We floated down the Maury River (medium sized relatively swift river that flows into the James) here in Virginia for about 5 miles the first afternoon. I took my boys in my canoe and my friend floated in his own kayak. We chose the Maury based on reports that the Smallmouth population in the James is very limited presently due to multiple poor spawning years in a row. According to the Virgnia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries website,

"Fishing the Maury River in beautiful Rockbridge County is always a good choice. Fish populations are extremely consistent from year to year, and anglers should expect high catch rates of smallmouth bass, rock bass, and redbreast sunfish when fishing in 2014. ... Harboring high densities of scrappy fish, the Maury is a great place to take novice anglers or a child on their first fishing trip."

I visited the local fly shop, bought a couple of bass poppers, and asked for advice prior to the trip, and I fished the poppers exclusively while floating the Maury. My friend had two spinning rods, one rigged with an inline spinner, and the other with a rubber salamander. The water was very clear, with the bottom clearly visible in pools that must have been close to 10 feet deep, and spooked fish (mostly carp) were visible during almost the entire trip. Between the two of us, we didn't catch a single smallmouth or largemouth bass. The kids caught nothing, except a few leaves and sticks. My contribution consisted of one rock bass and one relatively large creek chub.

Maury Chub.jpg
Notice how my 18 month old son is literally petting the fish, like it's a cat or a dog.

The five of us then camped on National Forest land along the James River. The next morning, rather than continue bumping the canoe into rocks in the clear, shallow water of the bigger rivers, we decided to let my friend have his first try at fly fishing for wild trout. We went to a stream I've been to several times, and caught trout in before. This stream is along a dead-end Forest Road with numerous unofficial camping pullouts along it, and abundant empty beer cans plus a few empty worm containers. I gave my friend a few minutes of fly casting instruction and some general tips on catching the wary small-stream trout, and we spent several hours hopping pools up the stream. The older boys stayed a pool or two behind and caught crayfish, while I carried my 18 month old in an infant carrier.

lower creek resized.jpg
Picture of the same trout stream taken on a prior trip, when the water was noticeably higher.

Despite my best efforts to provide pointers, my friend was unable to catch any trout, and when I took the rod for a few minutes, I had no better success. We did see several spooked trout in the stream, mostly as we clamored over a pool trying to free a stuck fly after a poor cast.

So after a long-anticipated weekend of fishing, canoeing, and camping, I caught a total of two fish, neither of which were the target species. Sure we could have gone somewhere else, but would our results really have been any better? We all had a good time, a canoe float is fun even without fishing rods, and boulder hopping up a wild trout stream is great fun. But how can I take my boys places where Daddy isn't the only one who catches fish? Does anyone have any words of encouragement?

[deathb4disco]

But how can I take my boys places where Daddy isn't the only one who catches fish?

When fishing with kids up to at least age 8, I use nothing but telescopic poles (no reels) and live bait. I took my brother's three kids to a local pond armed like this, and they caught almost 200 bluegills between them (in about three hours.)

Kids don't care what they catch, how big they are, or how they catch 'em. They just want to catch something.

[tedshuck]

When fishing with kids up to at least age 8, I use nothing but telescopic poles (no reels) and live bait. I took my brother's three kids to a local pond armed like this, and they caught almost 200 bluegills between them (in about three hours.)

Kids don't care what they catch, how big they are, or how they catch 'em. They just want to catch something.

Very, very true! I wish I had known this when I was trying to teach my kids to fish.
Ted

[planettrout]

I can only relate my experiences with my two youngest kids (now adults) and what I learned and passed on to them...



Michael and Ally going straight down the middle of Lone Pine Creek in the Eastern Sierras, during an Entomology session...where I (and they) first learned how to fish for Trout with a fly rod, 6" of tippet material, #20 treble hooks and worms or salmon eggs...

Then they graduated to this, after power baiting in high elevation lakes:

https://planettrout.wordpress.com/20...ies-that-bind/

I must have done something right...



Those guys on the Boulder River, MT


PT/TB

[Eric-WD]

#1 have fun #2 catch fish .... Find out when the stocking truck is hiting a local pond or take them to a pay to fish place. Them not catching is not a bad thing it teaches that you dont always get what you want. just make sure that you catch more often than not. if the fish arnt biting do somthing else fun so they want to go again.

[ScottP]

Find a pond full of panfish, take them on a nightcrawler hunt (almost as much fun as fishing), rig them up with pencil bobbers (it's very cool to watch those things tip over). Make sure you bring a hook disgorger or at least some long forceps. Also, I'd take any VDGIF fishing info with a large grain of salt; they tend to be very generalized.

Regards,
Scott

[jimsnarocks]

Ummm. A canoe trip with your children. Camping in the wild. Spending precious time with a friend. Nothing unsuccessful about that. Oh, and that's why we call it fishing and not catching. Like a few others have said, take them to a local pond with a can of worms . Jim