Summertime provides a great opportunity to get kids involved in fishing. Crappie and other panfish are ideally suited for teaching children how to fish because they readily bite, and where there’s one, there’s likely to be more.
Taking children fishing may require a little refinement of tactics, gear and preparation. Here are a few suggestions for making the most of your day on the water with youngsters.
Fishing tackle: The hallmark of crappie fishing tackle is rods that average 9 to 10 feet in length. Long rods are difficult for beginning anglers to handle and fish effectively. It’s also a good idea to obtain a “personal” rod and reel combo for the child so that when he lands a fish, there’s a sense of pride and accomplishment of having done so with his own gear. The downside is that many pre-packaged and inexpensive rods are poor quality and difficult to operate.
Bait: It’s hard to beat the old live bait standby when fishing with kids, especially when crappie fishing. Live bait often gets the nod because it serves several purposes — it catches fish, keeps kids entertained and adds an element of learning by allowing kids to have hands-on experiences with living creatures.
Magnolia Crappie Clubber Eli Rowell heralds live baits as a great way to show kids (he has 4- and 5-year-old children in addition to 9-year-old Cole) how to catch fish.
He says that by anchoring the boat down in a nice shady spot, he and his kids can often load the boat by fan casting minnows under slip corks around the mouth of a tributary creek. Since crappie are hiding out in these eddies to ambush prey, they have plenty of action from suspended fish gobbling up their minnows.
One of the best slip corks on the market is made by Thill, a subsidiary of Lindy Legendary Tackle. Day or night, big or small, Thill bobbers make a cork for every application. Check out their website at www.lindyfishingtackle.com.
Food: Children are not the only anglers who won’t venture out on the water without having something to eat stashed away onboard. Viennas and crackers may be the accepted menu for you and your tournament partner, but if you want to keep a kid’s interest on those days when the fishing is slow, you better have something more akin to their taste.
A convenient, packable, and really tasty snack to take along on a fishing trip are Lunchables made by Kraft Foods. Most are geared toward kids’ taste preferences, but never seem to go to waste when only adults are around. www.kraftbrands.com/lunchables.
Editor’s note: This article is part of the A River Runs Through It feature in the July issue of Mississippi Sportsman. Digital editions can be downloaded right to your computer or smartphone.
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