Fishing for kids

Mike Bradstock offers tips on taking kids out to catch their first (or not quite first!) fish

Take a kid fishing! That has become a popular campaign cry -- and certainly there are few things most kids enjoy more than dangling a line in the water, and the anticipation of a catch. Here are some suggestions that may help you and your kids have more fun fishing this summer.
The most important thing when taking kids fishing is to make sure they’re going to have a good time. There are three basic ingredients to this.

First, remember you are taking the kids — they aren’t taking you. Put aside any thoughts of going to a favourite out-of-the-way possie that might be far too far for little feet to walk. Put aside any hopes of doing any really serious fishing yourself. Be ready for a lot of baiting-up, tying up end tackle, endless questions and a ton of enthusiasm. Put yourself in a frame of mind to enjoy it. (If this is beginning to make you think twice already, think about the new fishing cobber in the making, rather than all the tangles you will be undoing. Have an eye to the long term, not just today.)

Second, try to find a spot where the kids can be reasonably sure of catching something -- and remember, for young children even a tiddler beats the heck out of nothing at all. A wharf is ideal, where spotties, horse mackerel or yellow-eyed mullet will be a likely target. Even cockabullies are sure to provide a thrill. A child’s first fish can give just as much pleasure to a parent or caregiver too! I will never forget seeing my daughter Rachel, then 3 years old, hanging on for all she was worth to a rod with a horse mackerel struggling furiously on the end. A boat might be even better, especially since going in a boat is an experience in itself. If you live far from the sea, fishing for eels off a bridge, particularly at night, offers possibilities.

Third, have a ‘contingency plan” for what to do next if the weather turns bad or your child gets bored. Takeaways for lunch or dinner are always a safe bet, with fish and chips an obvious first choice. (Maybe you’ll want to have them anyway.) If the weather’s looking dubious you might surreptitiously check the movie page in the newspaper before setting out. (A Fish called Wanda?). Most fishing spots also offer the opportunity to have a swim nearby, but be sure it’s not an involuntary swim!

If you’re an experienced fisherman yourself, you will probably know a good spot. Otherwise ask at a local tackle shop. Be sure you get the tide and time of day right too. A checklist of gear should be more than just tackle and bait. Something to drink and small snack treats will help alleviate boredom if the fish don’t bite thick and fast. Sun protection is particularly important for children. And don’t forget the camera for those snapshots you’ll treasure in years to come.

Be sure to take suitable tackle for your children. Surfcasting or game tackle is out unless you relish the thought of watching your little treasure receiving an impromptu water-skiing lesson. Kids also have a knack of dropping heavy rods in the water, which will spoil things for everyone. (When a friend of mine gave his son a 20-kg jig stick and the little dear dropped the whole rig overboard, whose fault was it really?) But do let them use your good tackle, perhaps under close supervision if you’re anxious about that. If forewarned that “this is my best rod so you’d better be careful”, most kids will take that on board. (I have broken far more of my own rods than any kids ever have!)

A light rod with a fixed-spool reel spooled with line in the 2-3-kg class is ideal to begin with. This is suitable for both bait fishing and spinning, much easier to cast with and less prone to tangling than a free-spool reel. It’s astonishing how quickly most children learn to cast well, and wonderful to see their confidence grow as they discover you don’t need lots of brute strength to cast a respectable distance.

I’m an ardent believer in starting kids on light tackle, small hooks and minimal sinker weight. Fish bite more freely on light lines without the weight of a heavy sinker, and impale themselves more readily on small hooks. A stray line is best of all, but may be hard to manage. To keep the sinker minimal, try lead shot pinched on to the line above the hook, or a small ball sinker that slides freely all the way down to the hook. Hooks of sizes 12 to 16 or even smaller are ideal for starters. Top-quality chemically sharpened hooks are all very well but may be so sharp as to be a hazard. I reckon Kahle-type hooks are best of all for children to use, as they don’t catch so readily in clothes and fingers, but they will hook fish very effectively, often without any need to strike, and hold fish very well even when the line is occasionally jerked hard or allowed to go slack.

Teach children from the outset how to cast properly. Show them how to watch out for tangling at the spool and rod tip just before making each cast. Demonstrate how to use the drag and show them how to recognise when it’s so loose that when they wind all they do is twist the line. Show them why the drag should be set too loose rather than tight. Demonstrate how to play the fish — if you act as the fish yourself this will raise a few laughs. Show how to “pump” the rod when winding line in, and explain how this will reduce wear and tear on the whole outfit.

Don’t overdo the teaching the first time out, but all the time encourage children to try doing things themselves -- learn to tie knots, bait their own hooks, cast their own line out, unhook their own fish and gut and scale them. If at first they’re not happy about doing some of these things, be tolerant. Give them time. One of my kids used to say “yuck” at the sight of a fish being gutted; but now she pores over the entrails with the enthusiasm of a zoologist studying some exciting new species.

When buying tackle, let’s get one thing clear at the very start. Kids need good-quality gear. Thirty-dollar rod-and-reel sets, even when they have a familiar-sounding brand name on them, are almost certain to turn out to be junk. And if you buy junk you’re just throwing money away. You simply can’t get a new fishing rod and reel outfit worth having for less than $50-60, and preferably you should spend a bit more than that. If you can’t afford that much, start your kids on handlines or you will just frustrate them.

Unless you know your tackle well, play it safe and buy from a shop that really knows fishing, and not from a supermarket or discount store where price may come ahead of quality and the staff may not know their tackle so well. (No: I don’t have shares in a tackle shop, more’s the pity, but I have had the experience of taking kids fishing with the sort of gear described above. They always end up using my rods and reels while I undo their tangles and try not to abuse their parents.)

The reel is more crucial than the rod, and should have a genuine ball-bearing mechanism. Also, look at the design of the bail arm, which will be flimsy and come apart easily on trash reels. It should also be easy to adjust the drag mechanism over a wide range of tensions. Avoid cheap rods that telescope and have fewer than 5 or 6 line guides. One- or two-piece rods are better.

Here is a list of what I’d want in my tackle box when taking a kid fishing off a wharf where we were expecting to catch fish like spotties, yellow-eyed mullet, horse mackerel, parore, and blue or red cod. This list is in addition to a rod and reel spooled with 2-3-kg line (or a handline), and suitable bait.

• Selection of hooks, size16 and larger.

• Sinkers -- a packet of split shot and selection of ball sinkers from 7g to 28g. Be sure not to use sinkers that are so heavy they put a pronounced bend in the rod.

• A few small black swivels to rig traces with. Also handy as “stoppers” for running-sinker rigs.

• A Japanese “Christmas tree”-type lure set with at least 6 lures on side traces. Have a larger lure attached at the bottom, not just a sinker. Bait on all these lures, especially oily fish like skipjack or mullet, increases their efficiency. This outfit will often catch fish when other methods aren’t working, and is particularly useful for kids who get bored easily or who aren’t good about changing baits.

• A selection of jigs, spinners and soft plastic lures for spinning and jigging with if the baitfishing action slacks off. Make sure they’re the right size for the tackle you’re using: small sizes, 7g or lighter, will probably be suitable.

• Small scissors. Much safer than a knife for kids to cut nylon with. The usefulness of scissors as a fishing tool is a good thing for kids to learn good and early in life. A fish can easily be opened up with scissors when gutting too.

• Sharp knife, which younger children understand from the outset is not for them to use — yet.

And in another bag I’d have food and drink, and a hand towel (Preferably an old one. Kids have a knack of smearing themselves with fishy fingers.) Plus maybe a spot of something stronger if it’s late enough in the day and I’m anticipating frazzled nerves after undoing the eleventh tangle ...

If you have a boat to take the kids fishing in, then lucky for all of you. Going out in a boat is an experience in itself that children will enjoy. From the finest gin palace down to a three-metre tinnie, a boat expands the fishing experience. With a small boat, rowing and putting the kids down the back end with light trolling lures out the back is the way to go. They watch the scenery roll by and enjoy the keen anticipation of a strike. Trolling across river mouths in this fashion will often yield kahawai, one of the greatest of all fish for any angler to catch. With a boat you can vary the techniques -- another way to prevent boredom if the fishing’s not so hot. After trolling for a while you can jig, then baitfish.

Often kids will want to do more fishy things after the fishing’s over. Some video stores have excellent videos about fishing -- which you’ll enjoy watching too. A magnetic fishing game can be made by taping nails under colourful cut-out cardboard fish and hanging magnets off sticks -- or even real fishing rods. A trip to the library will turn up all sorts of books on fish and fishing.
Realistic model fish are easy and fun to make. Cut out two identical fish shapes, staple them together with tissue paper stuffed in between, then get out the felts and paints. Better still, rub ink over a real fish then press paper against it to create a “fish print”. Using small fish like spotties, this is a delightful way to make a card illustrating “My First Fish” to send to grandparents.

Feedback? Comments? Any questions: info@heritagefoods.co.nz

See also Mike’s book Fishing: a guide for Kiwi kids (Harpercollins)