Some thoughts on the whole 'take a kid fishing' thing...

Fishing Warm water Forum
1

I know the ‘mantra’ that seems to in vogue these days…

Take a kid fishing…

Great. Do it if you want to.

If you don’t, fishing will still be here. It’s just changing.

Leasure time is at an all time premium. While this may or may not be a ‘good thing’, it is true that Americans in general are working harder, working longer, and making more money than at any time in the past. Many folks can’t afford the ‘time’ to fish every weekend, or even once a month. For these people, it’s not the money, it’s the time.

This explains the ‘high tech’ shows you see on TV. More folks are doing the ‘vacation/destination’ type fishing than ever before. They want to go first class (they can afford it), they want the best gear, they want to be comfortable, and they want to catch fish. They can’t fish a lot, so they spend their ‘fishing dollars’ on a once or twice a year ‘adventure’. These shows are really ‘advertisements’ intended to entice this type of fisherman. It works, most of the places you see on these shows and most of the guides you see taking the show ‘stars’ out to fish are solidly booked well in advance.

Many of these shows will try to highlight not just the fishing, but other attractions in the area. Do you think the fisherman watching the show really cares about the shopping or restaurants when there are big fish waithing? Nope, but the non fishing members of his family might…so they focus on offering something for everyone, that way a ‘family vacation’ lets the fisherfolk fish, and gives those that don’t something to do/see so it doesn’t cause a problem in the household…

It is certainly ‘different’ now that when I, and many of you, learned to love fishing. I can’t say it’s worse, and it may be ‘better’ (more fish are being caught, more people are catching them), but it IS diffferent.

I can live with that. They still let me fish.

Buddy

2

Buddy

I would agree with you by saying that no one needs to take a kid fishing out of some sort of sense of obligation.

Rather, take a kid fishing because you want to share some quality time with them, have a hoot and revel in the glowing faces as fish are landed.

Enjoy yourself by making sure that they enjoy themselves. Make a fishing buddy.

3

Jerry McKinnis, of the Fishin’ Hole TV program, in the final moments of his final show said something on this subject I will never forget.

“Forget taking a kid fishing… take your father fishing”

I did just that that very week

4

Guess, “this increase in fishing numbers”, Buddy, need to get together and have lunch, with the folks below!?

According to a new study released by the National Academy of Sciences, participation in outdoor activities has declined by 18 to 25 percent in the past 25 years, something researchers link to the appearance of video games in the daily diet of younger generations. They also cite “overfishing and pollution issues decreasing access to fish populations.” "The decline, found in both the United States and Japan, appears to have begun in the 1980s and 1990s, the period of rapid growth of video games, they said. For example, fishing peaked in 1981 and had declined 25 percent by 2005, the researchers found. Visits to national parks peaked in 1987 and dropped 23 percent by 2006, while hiking on the Appalachian Trial peaked in 2000 and was down 18 percent by 2005.
US Fish & Wildlife Releases 5-year Results from Fishing and Hunting Survey

                                                                                Although some details of the latest version of the US Fish & Wildlife Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation were made available in July, the complete report -- which includes details on the number of anglers and their activities, their expenditures and demographic data -- was [just released last week](http://federalasst.fws.gov/surveys/surveys.html).

Among the more interesting information in the report, which is likely the least-biased measures of fly fishing participation in the U.S.:
– 3,012,000 anglers over the age of 16 fly fished in 2006, participating for an average of about 10 days per person
– “Although the number of all anglers declined 12%, their expenditures for fishing equipment (rods, reels, etc.) and fishing trips increased 5% and 7%, respectively. There were drops in expenditures for auxiliary equipment (special clothing, tents, etc.) and special equipment (big ticket items such as boats) by -14% and -12%, respectively.” (Quoted from the USFWS Web site.)
– 67 percent of all anglers (including non-fly-fishers) engaged in some form of catch-and-release fishing, while 20% always released their fish

5

Buddy, you make some good points, but I have a very low view of the “snoopy” and “barbie” rods that are sold as “kids tackle”. They’re not tackle, they’re toys. I have no problem with anybody buying them as toys, but letting your kids fish with them is doing them a disservice. As fishing tackle, those things are beyond worthless. The reels are terrible so casting is a chore, and they’re all under 4’ so setting the hook is hard, too.

I was fishing a small urban pond a couple of years ago. As I fished, I noticed an older gentleman (the grandfather, I assumed) as he led several kids down to the water with some type of “snoopy” kids rod. I watched as the kids tried casting the rod. None of them could do it. Then, Gramps tried. He couldn’t cast it, either. In the meantime, I caught and released 70 bluegills in an hour on a simple telescopic pole, fishing just 15 feet from shore.

To sum up, I believe in giving kids adult tackle that they can handle.

6

In PA fishing activity peak was around 1990 since then there is a steady decline.

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/licsal2.htm

Mind that in 2007 the price went up so the sales have most likely declined. As far as I know the 2007 data is not yet availiable.

As to the raise in the anmount of money spend there are three contibuting factors.

  1. Inflation
  2. People buy a lot of expensive stuff that sees very little use
  3. Equipment we by for ourselves (fisher folk) is of much higher quality that what people used to by in the yesteryear. On top of it we tend to by a lot more of it.
    My wifes father who fished his whole life owned two outfits. I have about 20. My son in law buys two very high end outfits every year (plus all the stuff for the kids). people used to go fishing with the vest and maybe a small tackle bag. These days we have to have hunderds of different things. The same guy who buys the expensive rods is complaining that his 16 foot Tracker does not have enough room for all of his lures and such…

He is not the only one…

I see them bass guys at the lakes all the time.

PS. How about them $30 000.00 + boats I see everywhere? That will increase the amount of money spend…

7

Take a kid fishing in Germany…if you happen to be a member of the secret club that allows you the ‘priviledge’ to fish in one of their streams. From what I hear it’s rediculous what you have to go thru to be bestowed the priviledge of wetting a line in a German stream.
Maybe THAT is the problem in OTHER countries.
Here in the good ole USA you can still (until environmentalists get their way) wet a line almost anywhere.

8

But I DO miss rotary phones!:rolleyes:

One of the reasons fishing (and hunting) is what it is in Germany (expensive and full of hoops to jump through) is because there is precious little of it left because there were no environmentalists for most of its history. Restoring dead water is difficult and expensive, and so is educating those who will use it so they won’t just turn around and ruin it again. Thank God we aren’t in that situation here…yet.

9

I think I’m missing the point here. The comercial and outdoor usage rates mean nothing when related to taking a kid fishing. I thought that the reason was to share a joyful experience. I have three children of my own and they all different feelings about fishing but they all enjoy it to one degree or another. One mistake that I see repeated over and over is the adult trying to fish at the same time, especialy if the child is very young and the stress is incredible. Don’t make it stressful on the child. And if they want to play with bugs, minnows, frogs or poke a stick in the mud just go with them and have a good time. Getting out of the house and away from the tv and video games and relating with the child should be a goal not worrying about numbers, lengths and pounds. Teach them how to tie a fishing knot you will be surprised how quickly they piick it up.

The is nothing sweeter to the ear is “Dad I Think I Got A Fish!” or “Where Did My Fly Go!”

Just take a kid fishing and have fun.

Greg

10

Whoo Hoooo!!! This is my kinda news!!!..

11

Don’t have any kids of my own but I have taken quite a few on fishing and hunting trips.
I’ll always remember when Randy caught that nice king salmon on the Gulkana River in Alaska, when Tim (not me) caught his first trout on a fly, when Brett chased after some chukers in his bare feet across some mighty sharp rocks nor when Tommy caught so many crappie he finally said “I quit”. So if nothing else I will have something that nobody can take from me, the memories of these events plus a whole bunch more.

This is more than reason enough for me to borrow somebody’s kid for a day or two and head on out to fish or hunt.

Tim

12

I am the oldest of 3 brothers. All of us fished with Dad, but I was the only one who latched onto fishing. I am the only one in my entire family to learn to flyfish. I remember the moment, vividly, when I was a kid and my Dad brought his wicker basket to me and opened the lid. The smell of those trout hooked me on fishing. Over the past 37 years, I have taken/dragged a lot of people on fishing trips and not one of them got hooked on fishing. My feeling is take your family & kids camping, hiking and fishing and do not fret about wether your kids are going to be hooked on flyfishing, just take them fishing. Kids just want to be with Dad and catch some fish! Let your kids decide wether they want to embrace flyfishing. I loved my son more than fishing, because we even flew his Kite with my boat, instead of fishing.
Doug

13

Last Summer, the San Jose Flycasters hosted a multi-weekend youth program that taught the fly fishing merit badge to a pile of local scouts. We had plenty of club members readily volunteer to help and the best part was watching their faces when that all-important first fish was caught (thanks to a member discovering a small side pond near a local reservoir that held some fairly cooperative red ear and blue gill).

It’s not the first time they’ve hosted scores of youngsters. Perhaps there’s a fly fishing group near some of you that’s willing to do something similar…

My kids have fished with me but generally prefer video games. I’m slowly finding other folks to fish with instead and wondering if someday they’ll come back to visit and invite me fishing… :smiley:

14

And if you believe that I have some land in Florida for sale…

I’ve got no problems with environmental measures to help keep REAL pollution out of our water. I have a H U G E problem with ‘environmental’ measures meant to keep certain user groups off land because of bigoted notions!

Funny, we once had polluted waters. We cleaned them up with no restrictive measures on end users…yet. Environmentalism that supports keeping our land and water safe is good. “Environmetalism” that purports to keep our land ‘safe’ by keeping out those they don’t like is bigotry.

15

I take my soon to be 13 year old son fishing every time he will go with me. There are so many demands on his time, school, soccer, tennis, playing with friends, etc. that fishing is not first on his mind. When I was his age (back when sabe tooth tigres lurked in the bushes) I fished every opportunity I could get. Pretty much every day from May to October involved some fishing. Things are different today.

However, my boy does still enjoy it and there are days on the stream or lake where we talk non stop and other days were we hardly say a word. Both are examples of some of the best and highest quality father / son time we’ve ever had. There’s something to be said about a day on the lake or stream where a father and son are so in tune with each other that they don’t need to say a word to communicate volumes.

Through fishing, I have gotten to know my son on a different level. He’s an outstanding young man who has very deep thoughts about a lot of topics. He has strong opinions about world events and has a much more mature view of the world than I had ever imagined.

I would have learned none of this about this wonderful young man had I not spent quality time with him in a setting where the world moves at a slower pace and the outside distractions involve butterflies, birds, fish, and passing boats. I would not have the chance to talk with him like this at soccer games, tennis lessons, or when he’s playing XBox with his friends.

So, in summary, will fishing die if people don’t take kids fishing? Probably not. But what will die is that opportunity to get to know your kids as people. The memories we’ve created will last both of us our lifetimes. My son will tell his grandchildren about fishing with his dad. I will tell my grandchildren about fishing with their dad.

I see so many parents of my son’s friends who have no clue who their kids are. They schlep them back and forth to soccer games, baseball games, football practice, band practice, this event and that event. Yes, they invest heavily in their children, but the world is so deaparately lacking quality one-on-one time between father and son and father and daughter. So many dads just go to work, make money, come home, work some more and crash on the weekends. Moms are so occupied with their careers and with becoming a kid taxi service and the children are so busy with all of their activities that we have lost the relationship between child and parent.

Not to mention all of the single parent families out there who struggle just to keep it all togther. I am a firm believer that children need both parents to be active in their lives and that the parents need to get to know their children as more than an object that needs to be moved from point A to point B at a given time.

Sorry about the rant, but I honestly believe this world would be a much better place if more dads took thier kids fishing. If the dad does not like to fish, then by all means, just go do something with your child that involves some time alone where you can talk and share the world.

Trust me, your kids are a whole lot smarter than you give them credit for. they have world views, they have opinions on politics, they have questions that take a very long time to work up ther nerve to ask. They want to talk with you not have you talk at them.

Again, I’m stepping off my soap box now. I hope I have not offended anyone. My intent was not to offend. I just got on a roll and guess I had more to say than I thought.

Jeff

16

GHunsicker, Dshock, and Jefnles1 have it right…
Fishin’ is ‘spose ta be fun… I love takin the kids out fishin’, and I am blessed to say I’ve taken more than my share, including my brothers’ kids, their kids, and all manner of my in’laws kids, my own kids, my friends kids, and now my grandkids. Many of them for the first times in their lives. As they all get a little older, sometimes, I even get to fish. Last year, on our annual family get togehter campout, one of my Nephews, Ben, was there too, He’s 30 now, and many years ago, I took him out fishing for the first time.
He was right there beside me with all 8 or so of the rest of the kids, from 5 to 10 year old, and two of my brothers, 48 and 62, and Ben and I didn’t even have fishin rods :slight_smile: Ben and I kept the tangles loose, the bobbers workin’, and the worms and flies fresh for everbody else. We all had a blast… I’ll never forget a moment of that time. everybody witha fishin rod caught fish (crappie), and we put the whole bucket of ‘em back to fight another day, by unanimous decision. My son, 16 at the time, was off down the bank on his own, fishing…He’s all business when it comes to fishing… and he had a great time too. We all still talk about it every time we’re together, and little Hopie, 5 at the time and 7 now, well her fish started out just being a lunker crappie, but now it was as long as her arm :slight_smile: My son is the best fishin partner I ever had, and he truly loves the sport. He’s usually a flyfisher these days, and swings a 6wt here on the Rogue regularly for trout and steelhead. Often as not though, when he was younger, as is true with the other kids, he was catchin lizards and grasshopper, or skippin’ rocks just as often as he was fishin’ and maybe at the same time. Even now that’s true. Some of the absolutely best times I ever had with my son were skippin’ rocks when we were fishin’.
I give 'em all rods, and creels, and vests, and whatever, little kid rods at first, then as soon as they can manage 'em real rods with quality reels. It’s always better when you got good equipment. Soon’s they want to learn, I get ‘em goin on the fly rod, some of ‘em like it some don’t. In all these many years, and kids, some of them are truly hooked, and some aren’t. But they all always want to go fishin whenever we get a chance, and some fish and some just skip rocks. We always have a great time though, and that’s what really matters. I think that is the philosophy behind "take a kid fishin’"
that matters at all…Happy Fishin’…ModocDan

By the way, I’m building my son-in-law of two years, age 30, a custom rod for his upcoming 31st birthday. It’ll be his first rod, a spin rig. Last summer was his first time ever fishin’…he racked up not a few crappie, and in N.CA’s Pit river, a couple very nice 'bows, one well over 18". He’s hooked, but he lives the city life, in the big city, and it’s gonna take this summer to really get a good hookset on him…M.D.

17

Perfectly said! I have nothing more to say other than I can barely wait until it warms up enough to spend that time with the Grandchildren again.
Mike

18

I am a member of the Three Rivers Fly Fishers club in Ft Wayne Indiana along with others on FAOL. Each year we hold a fishing day for the Big Brother Big Sisters. We thought we were in trouble the first outing when some were playing in the rocks and dirt before things got started. They were all under 13 tied great Wollybuggers,then went on to casting lessons, and then fishing with the flies they had tied. These inter-city kids had never seen a live fish and thought the bass would bite them. Everyone caught fish lost lots of flies–good thing I tied a box of spares. Just seeing the smiles was worth the time spent. This year we will include a summer camp. BILL FITZ

19

"Look at both license sales, tackle sales, bait sales, and ANY report on water usage in any state…all are ‘up’.
Buddy, I don’t know about tackle sales, bait sales or “report on water usage,” but you are absolutely wrong about fishing license sales being “up.” That’s not true nationally, and that’s not true in my state.

Where did you get your figures? Have you read the annual survey by the US Fish and Wildlife Service?

20

Here is a good example of taking your kids fishing;http://www.katu.com/features/fishtales/16627191.html
Doug