Best Tips for Taking Your Kids on Fishing Trips
Parents across the United States have the tricky task of showing their favorite hobbies to their kids. As we know all too well, children’s responses can be unpredictable. So how can you ensure that fishing will appeal to them? Use the best tips for taking your kids on fishing trips.
Make the Day About Them
We get it—when you have a rod in your hand, it’s easy to shift your focus to fishing. But always remember that this day is about your kids, not what you can catch. In fact, you can help your kids come away from a trip saying that they caught more than Dad. That’s a memory they won’t soon forget. Make your priority helping your kids through the day and coaching them, rather than fishing yourself.
Keep the Gear Simple
For a first outing, the multitude of fishing gear options can quickly become overwhelming. Instead of trying to teach your kids about sinkers, bobbers, and lures, keep things simple. You can pick up a push-button fishing reel and spend some time showing them the basics of casting before having them try their hand at it themselves.
Once they’ve become used to the gear (and have caught some small fish), you can plan a day based on teaching them about the other tools in your tackle box.
Make the Trip Short
Kids can burn out quickly. You should make sure the fishing trip sticks in their mind as a fun time by keeping the outing under about three hours. While you may be more than willing to stay out on the water for a day, your kids may feel bored a lot faster and could be left with the impression that fishing isn’t as exciting as you made it out to be.
Prevent Motion Sickness
Nothing ruins a nice day out on the water like motion sickness. Kids who haven’t spent a ton of time on boats might not know the best ways to prevent this. Therefore, you should spend some time learning about what causes motion sickness and how to avoid it. Basically, tell your kids to focus on the water horizon or bring along some chewing gum.
Now that you know the best tips for taking your kids on fishing trips, you can get on the water and teach them how to reel in a big one!