Help my son catch a fish

[UncleJak]

I took my son fishing last month and did not catch anything. I need a formula to guarantee we catch a fish. We are fishing off the banks of the lake and he doesn't care what kind of fish it is. I need a no fail bait. He said he had fun, but I imagine he would have liked to catch a fish...Thanks!

[TGO David]

Um... how about just teaching him that life isn't about guaranteed success but that satisfaction should come from putting forth a good effort in the pursuit of something?

Sorry if that seems callous, but I see "entitled" people everywhere I look and I figure it's up to us to break that cycle. Everyone wants the payout, but no one is willing to suffer through the disappointments to get there.

[Caster]

HA!, David hits another triple.

How about a trout farm? Are there any of those anymore? I remember going to one in Bucksnort as a kid. You can catch a fish on a bare hook, just use a gold colored Eagle brand. I think we fished with niblets of corn if I remember right. It's about as fast as cast and reel in.

[kb4ns]

I agree with David. But, with that said, there are bluegill (bream) in just about every lake in the state. Get some #6 hooks and some crickets or wax worms, some bobbers, and sit back and real 'em in. That is what I do when I take my daughter fishing. At the age of four, her attention span is short, but it keeps her involved as it's not uncommon to catch 12 to 15 an hour.

[BrasilNuts]

Nothing wrong with a man wanting to see his son catch a fish and asking for advice. Hopefully his son will gain intrest in fishing and it will be a hobby he enjoys for the rest of his life.If he does I'm sure the fish will teach him plenty of dissapointment and that life isn't about guaranteed success.

[TNFF319]

Shrimp is a great bait for panfish. As stated above, bream are easy to catch and are everywhere you look. Try a smaller lake with less pressure. When I take little kids, I hit up lakes in neighborhoods and apartment complexes. They are usually loaded with fish and have very little fishing pressure. Try going in the afternoon, the heat won’t be as bad and the fishing is usually good enough. Remember K.I.S.S. You want your son to catch a fish not a trophy. Target the smaller easier fish.

[Guest Anadais]

Um... how about just teaching him that life isn't about guaranteed success but that satisfaction should come from putting forth a good effort in the pursuit of something?

Sorry if that seems callous, but I see "entitled" people everywhere I look and I figure it's up to us to break that cycle. Everyone wants the payout, but no one is willing to suffer through the disappointments to get there.

I agree with this 100%

That being said, I learned to fish with a cane pole and whatever I dug up from under a rock. Sometimes getting your bait is half the fun

[Rightwinger]

Go to Wally world, by the cheapest fly fishing rig they have and one of those 6 packs of cork flys (a simple cork with a hook painted yellow, green, etc and some feather or rubber bands tied to it). Pull out about 10 feet of it and teach him the simple "loft" to sling the bug about 15 feet in any direction and hold on. You get to see them hit and its fast! You can catch an area out and release, walk 30 feet and do it again, then return to the smae spots 30 minutes later and repeat. They can grow with that rig!

[peejman]

Um... how about just teaching him that life isn't about guaranteed success but that satisfaction should come from putting forth a good effort in the pursuit of something?

Sorry if that seems callous, but I see "entitled" people everywhere I look and I figure it's up to us to break that cycle. Everyone wants the payout, but no one is willing to suffer through the disappointments to get there.

True, but perhaps a tad harsh for a little one.

I agree with David. But, with that said, there are bluegill (bream) in just about every lake in the state. Get some #6 hooks and some crickets or wax worms, some bobbers, and sit back and real 'em in. That is what I do when I take my daughter fishing. At the age of four, her attention span is short, but it keeps her involved as it's not uncommon to catch 12 to 15 an hour.

This. Crickets, red worms, bobbers. The type of pole doesn't matter. Find a quiet spot with some brush or other cover for the fish nearby.

[UncleJak]

Yea...I know you can't always catch a fish...but I imagine if I had had the great advice from these gentlemen here we would have got one. I have no clue about fishing, but I gonna try again using some of these techniques.

[whiskey]

The rocks placed under and around bridges, in the shade of the bridge has usually got panfish galore. Crickets or worms and a small hook should keep a kid busy for an hour or two.

[Il Duce]

In my experience you catch more without a bobber.

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[Guest Aces&8s]

If there are catfish in the lake you are fishing, try wrapping a chicken liver in a piece of pantyhose.

Another fun thing dad did with us was to help us catch crawdads in our creek, them use them as bait.

[Murgatroy]

I agree with David. But, with that said, there are bluegill (bream) in just about every lake in the state. Get some #6 hooks and some crickets or wax worms, some bobbers, and sit back and real 'em in. That is what I do when I take my daughter fishing. At the age of four, her attention span is short, but it keeps her involved as it's not uncommon to catch 12 to 15 an hour.

This is what we do with my daughter. At three she was reeling them in as fast as she could cast. We cut a worm into about five pieces and used the same worm to catch a dozen or so bluegill.

[Guest clownsdd]

Gonna have to go deep as hot as its been

[Mike.357]

small hooks, I dunno about hook numbers but get real small hooks and then stick a little piece of worm on it. Set the bobber to let the worm float at the desired depth, two or three feet for blue gill. Make sure you got a sinker a foot or so above the hook, not some massive lead weight but just enough for the bobber to settle.

How old is the boy? Little guys like Snoopy Rod and Reels If he is bigger a Zebco 33 will service his needs for along time.

Maybe run one rig with a bobber and another for the bottom. If on the bottom a little bigger sinker bight be helpful.

Sounds like fun anyway. He will learn life sucks soon enough.

[tnhawk]

Give a boy a fish, he'll eat today.

Teach a boy to fish, he'll tell lies the rest of his life.

[UncleJak]

He's 10 and wants to know everything about outdoors and survival. Looks like we will be going this weekend armed with my new knowledge. If we get a fish, I'll post pics...

[tnhawk]

Hopefully he'll have an enjoyable weekend outdoors and catch a few fish as well. A weekend enjoying nature offers much more than anything a city has to offer.

[Good_Steward]

Give a boy a fish, he'll eat today.

Teach a boy to fish, he'll tell lies the rest of his life.

^This Wins.

I second everyone else. My son is 10, and we have fished together since he was old enough to sit up. Nothing like spending time with your kids and watching their eyes light up when that float starts jiggling around. Fishing with your kids, to me, is about passing down "tribal" knowledge on how to catch food, if need be, and spending top notch time with them. Nothing wrong with wanting to expand your knowledge to prevent getting "skunked", and nothing wrong with being disappointed that you didn't catch anything.

And also a big +1 for Mike .357 and the Zebco 33. Good reel that will last for years and years for less than $25 for a rod / reel combo.

Good luck, and good fishing!

Edited August 3, 2011 by Good_Steward

[Good_Steward]

You know, one more thing: If your boy is as hyperactive as mine, and the fishing is a little slow, a crappie rig that I use (actually, catches everything-just caught an 11 and 6lb catfish, baby bream, crappie, drum AND bass on this rig - all within an hour) is fantastic. Buy a pack of 1/16th oz jig heads - color doesn't really matter - and some short plastic panfish skirts. I prefer black or red top with a chartreuse bottom. Place a float about 1-2ft above the jig. When you retrieve, do it in short, jerky bursts. Twitch the rod a couple of times before retrieving more. This action jerks the float back and forth, and causes the jig to "swim" under the float. Catches really anything that's biting. Target brush or rocks in the water, trees hanging low over the water, or shallows that have a sharp drop off.

[dickenscpa]

Sounds like my son. He turned 9 this past June and I've taken him fishing, camping and hunting since he was 3. He loves being outdoors. If we're out on the boat and not catching or in a blind and not seeing deer or turkey, we talk. Whatever he wants to talk about. Then we'll take the 4 wheeler or boat and just explore.

We camp a LOT. If for some reason we can't go one weekend, we'll sleep in a hammock in the back yard sleeping under the stars. He is a very good student of bushcraft.

[UncleJak]

That is awesome. I recently changed jobs to get weekends off. I went 11 years of working EVERY Sat and Sun and decided it was time for a change. We are trying to get into the same pattern. I'd live outdoors if I could. For his birthday we had a "outside" party complete with campfire and tent. The funny part is when we were inside, some of the boys wanted to play video games and my son was the worst at them. But when we went outside to light the fire, he was eager to show the boys what he was good at! I treasure all these moments! And now my 6 year old daughter has expressed interest in fishing too!

[tmedic]

Try a small hook and some corn. Best thing is if you get hungry its ok to eat the bait.

[dlm37015]

come out to my place i put about 50 pounds of dog food in the river behind my house every week like getting catfish at kroger