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Hooking Up Anglers Since 2011.
In my region we have a bunch of great things to do to expose kids to fishing. One of them is a program put on by longtime guide Capt. Johnny Walker who does a clinic and free fishing day for underprivileged and handicapped children that all the local guides help out with. He has a saying that goes, Take a kid fishing today, because he might take you fishing in the future.
As far as taking your own child fishing, we have lots of piers in my region you can go to like the Venice Fishing Pier and Venice Jetties on the south end of my region and the Anna Maria has two piers on the north end of the region. You can also go to just about any beach in Florida and throw out a shrimp or piece of cut bait and catch fish. You can take kids wade fishing in the bays.
We also have a lot of fishing spots near all the boat ramps, and believe this or not, but everyone coming in from fishing dumps the bait out of their livewell before pulling the boat out and the fish are right there at the ramps eating the bait they throw out. A lot of times, you can just ask and they’ll give you their bait. There’s a lot of nice snook around those ramps.
One of the things you can do in your area to learn where to take kids and what to use is to go to a local tackle store and ask them about options in that area. These guys are pros and they love to help kids out, and will direct you to the best spots where the fish are biting and show you the exact rigs and baits to use. A lot of these tackle shops also do kids seminars to teach them about fishing.
We even have some great freshwater locations to fish in my area like Myakka Lake State Park where you can rent canoes or fish from the shore. Oscar Scherer State Park which has a nice stream that flows through it where you can fish from shore or rent a canoe. There’s Lake Manatee, the Upper Peace and Myakka Rivers—there’s just a wide variety of places to fish. And the nice thing about freshwater fishing in Florida is that just about any small pond or lake holds fish, and that includes development ponds, drainage ponds for shopping centers, even golf course ponds. You can throw a live shiner or rubber worm in a little tiny pond next to a shopping mall parking lot and catch a 10 pound bass.
The important thing about taking children fishing is to make it fun, while at the same time teaching them about the outdoors so eventually they will be able to strike out on their own and catch fish. Children tend to have a very short attention span, and they really don’t care what they catch, as long as they catch something, and preferably a lot of something. For that reason, panfish like bluegill, crappie, Oscars and shellcracker in freshwater, pinfish, pigfish, jacks and snapper in saltwater are the perfect species to target. They get a lot of action and see a lot of fish while at the same time practicing their casting and fish fighting techniques.
I like to keep things light and only fish for an hour or two and then do something else like go swimming so they don’t get bored. Children have short attention spans, and will give up quickly if they don’t get a bite, which is why the panfish action is so good. But if fishing is slow, it’s okay to say, We’ll get them next time, and move on when a child becomes bored or impatient. Remember, you want to make it fun so they will want to do it again, and exposing your children to the outdoors will open a world of healthy options that will get them away from the television set and video games.
You can watch the full episode and others on our website, www.chevyfloridainsiderfishingreport.com, and click on the Videos Tab.
This Fishing Report was submitted on 6/25/2013 5:29:46 PM by Seamus and last updated on 6/25/2013 5:29:46 PM.
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