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They say most adults who fish, fished when they were young. The morning of my first fishing trip always will be one of my strongest memories. My dad whispered to stay quiet as he helped me get dressed. Then there was the drive in the dark. I leaned against the heavy metal car door and dozed.
It was still dark when we got to Frank Worford's house. The glare of the kitchen light and the smell of blueberry muffins hit at the same time his black Lab bitch came up and nuzzled me. Frank's gravelly laugh cut the morning quiet like the butter knife through the muffin.
We were out on the lake just after dawn. They had me rigged up first, and I had a trout on before they cast out. That one got in the boat, and they set me up again. Another quick bite and a fish.
Anastacia Holland and her cousin,
Nick Suppa, both 5, display the trout they caught while columnist
Rich Holland was teaching them how to fish.Recently REMODELED for
extended
Every fishing story has at least two sides to it. I still get razzed for crying when the fish bit their hooks instead of mine. The way I remember it, the level of assistance dropped 'way off once I put a couple of fish on the boat. The scene became not exactly every man for himself, but you get what I mean.
I'm still cranky when I'm not the one getting bit, but then I just try harder and usually get hooked up again. It's my training. From that first trip on I always felt I was a fisherman. I gained the confidence to keep trying, and the urge to go again. And along the way I found you never stop learning.
So I'm pretty much convinced the best thing you can do for the future of the sport is take a youngster fishing. In fact, that would make a good New Year's resolution. I know it takes resolution because of recent attempts to pass along my love of fishing to my daughter, nieces and nephews.
You don't have to take kids along every time you go fishing. When you do take them, however, you should be prepared to spend some time to help them. But there are ways to make sure that both you and the youngsters have a good time.
Try to arrange the trip with the children foremost in mind, and it's best if you can get out with another family.
For instance, last fall I was in California's Eastern Sierra with my family. My sister Patricia lives near Lee Vining, adjacent to Mono Lake. She and her husband, Joe Suppa, have two boys, Jake and Nick. Nick and my daughter, Anastasia, are both 5 years old and the best of buddies. Jake is in third grade.
Living in the Sierra doesn't mean Joe gets a lot of fishing time. And when he can sneak out after work with his sons, he's outnumbered and lucky to get a chance to wet a line himself.
So I decided to take on the 5-year-olds myself, and let Joe and Jake fish man-to-man. If I didn't get to do much fishing, well, that would be okay.
The first mistake most parents make is to supply the kids with cheap tackle. Oh, it's all right to buy one of those funky spincasters for a toy when they're toddler age, but once you get them out fishing, give them the real thing.
That's what's great about trout fishing. You can purchase a good ultra-light rod and reel for 70 to 100 bucks. And I mean something that you wouldn't mind fishing with. That should be the criterion: Would you like to fish with that outfit? Because basically what I'm saying is, let them use your gear.
One of my best fishing buddies tells a story of when he was a kid fishing along the Huntington Beach canals, piers and coastline of Southern California. He and a friend practically fished out the coastal community's newly created backwaters. There was another neighborhood kid who hung around, bragging about all the great tackle his dad owned. So one day the boys invited him along on a half-day ocean fishing trip. Stopping by the kid's house, it turned out that the dad really did have the awesome gear. But when it came time to lend his son an outfit for the day, he reached for the oldest and cheapest rod and reel. Not only did he embarrass his son, the outfit later blew up on a bonito.
So I set up Nick and Stacia with two good ultra-light rods and reels that I also used during the week-long trip. Besides, you pay a lot more attention when good gear is on the line.
The first outing was an evening boat trip on Silver Lake in the Eastern Sierra's June Lake Loop. It's best to plan short trips, governed by a natural time span like the sun setting. I tossed baits out for both of them, having to recast a few times since their first reaction when handed the rod was to start grinding the reel.
I didn't want them dropping the rods and reels overboard, so I taught them to hold the rod with their fingers on either side of the reel base.
"Dad!"
I looked over, and Anastasia was winding, but this time the rod was bent. The long leader kept her from winding the fish up to the tip, and the fish was let go, much to Anastasia's dismay. I told her she could keep the next one.
While you want to teach catch and release at an early age, everybody has the right to reach the point on their own where they want to let fish go.
When I got a chance, I started casting a lure for myself. Of course, Anastasia wanted to try that, so I let her. I was hoping she would feel the special jolt of a fish striking a moving lure, but she at least got practice stopping the lure before it got to the rod tip. And I let her cast the lure, taking advantage of the opportunity to teach her again how to cast a spinning reel.
"Okay, grab the line with your finger and pin it against the rod. Now pull the bail over with your other hand. Take the rod back and look behind you so you don't hit anything. Now throw it forward and let go of the line. Don't let go too soon, and don't let go of the rod."
After a while she got tired of that, and went back to her bait stick, deciding she wanted me to cast it to a better spot. That paid off in another trout for her, and we put this one in the boat. The kids then spent more time playing with the fish on the stringer than fishing.
We decided to end the evening by slow-trolling flies on the way back to the launch ramp. Since she had two fish, Anastasia had no problem with letting Nick and Jake be the trollers.
You should have seen Nick's face when a trout slammed his fly. There's nothing more serious than a kid winding in a fish. Once it was boated, the natural fisherman started to show.
"My trout's bigger, huh, Uncle Rich?"
"Is it, Dad?"
"Well you can see which one is bigger, but you did catch two."
Perhaps the best way to fish with kids is from shore. Either go to a lake with easy access to shore fishing, or use a boat to get to a good beach. Make it a picnic, with fishing just one of the options.
You need to be careful of fish and game laws. If the kids go running around in the bushes while they still have rods and reels soaking baits, you could be liable for a ticket for fishing too many rods. California law reads that rods must be "closely attended."
California law also lets adults buy a two-rod stamp for inland waters other than rivers, so I was still legal with two rods out on a shore-fishing trip when Nick and Anastasia started climbing around in the aspen at Little Virginia Lake.
Even so, I think the legal definition of closely attended held true nonetheless, since Nick came running in a flash when I told him his rod was getting bit. Once he landed the trout, all the two wanted to do was fish.
Meanwhile, Joe and Jake were able to fish the inlet, where they got into brookies.
The bite stayed hot by the lakeshore, and I was kept busy pinning on nightcrawlers and retying rigs. I had to stay on the kids about not dragging reels in the dirt.
Then, when Nick took the lead by a couple of fish, Anastasia wanted his spot. Nick let her fish it while I retied his rig, and it turned out Anastasia knew a good spot when she saw it, immediately reeling in her best fish. The two ran to the stringer to add it to the big one Nick had kept.
As sunset approached, we heeded warning signals that the kids were getting tired and packed up for home. On the way back, I made sure to let the youngsters know what great fishermen they were.
Maybe someday they'll take me fishing.
⌐ Western Outdoors 1997. All rights reserved.
