How to get young people fishing?

[Gundog]

1 hour ago, Columbia Craw said:

 They pressured the city to kill off the lake of all species so the stocked trout could hopefully prosper.  They did not and a major  potential resource for kids was lost.  Sad. A base fishing license in Washington is near forty bucks.  

Wow. That is sad when you think about the kids not being able to catch panfish. Growing up we had a pond just outside of town. As kids we would climb down a steep hill, walk the train tracks for about 2 miles and then cross a busy road just to get to fish for bluegills. 

[gim]

I think the key is action.  Exposure to a lot of fish every time is key.  Their patience is very limited.  Panfishing would be my first choice because it generally produces a lot of fish in a short period of time, whereas bass fishing may not.  Do NOT take them muskie fishing.  That is guaranteed to lose their interest in no time.  Its no different than hunting, really.  Taking a kid to a deer stand for 11 hours when its 20 degrees out is just a terrible idea.  You literally may not see a deer for hours on end.  They'll lose interest so quickly.  Take them duck or upland hunting where the action is likely to be a lot more.

 

Sometimes there may not be a lot you can do to get more people to participate in certain things.  People have to have the will power to at least try it.  I don't force my wife to go with, ever.  I ask her if she wants to go...sometimes she says yes, sometimes no.

[The Maestro]

3 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

That "bug" seems hard for people to catch IMO. I can take a good amount of friends fishing for the day as they just see it as a chance to be outdoors an hang out, and catching fish is fun. But the desire to go fish in 50° rain for 8 hours is a little harder to make them understand lol ?

I think you have to be born with the fishing bug.  People like the idea of fishing more than the reality of it.  It's a lot of work. It's just that we don't really see it that way.  Carrying all your gear, waking up at stupid times, driving for hours, spending all day on a boat in blistering heat or rain etc... You have to REALLY want to go fishing in order to actually do everything that's involved.

 

Non anglers would go insane if I brought them out from sun up to sun down.  It makes no difference to me how many fish I'm catching.  I'm as into it after 13 hours as I was at the start of the day.  I honestly think it takes something of an OCD personality to be a hardcore angler.

[LadiMopar]

On 2/7/2019 at 8:57 PM, DropShotHotShot said:

 Any interesting thought, don't teach kids, teach parents,  so the can go more often with kids

 

I agree whole heartedly, but will up the game by saying, don't forget the grandparents. Most of us have more time, and more patience with the kids. Been taking my grandson since he was 6 and several of his friends (they're all about 12 yrs old now) the past couple years, 

 

It was fun  fishing with just grandma but it's even more fun with a friend your own age. Now when we go out my grandson shows off a little by "teaching"  his buddy. 

 

We also have a rule: no phone, no tablet, no device of any kind once the rods come out of the truck. 

[Columbia Craw]

4 hours ago, Gundog said:

Wow. That is sad when you think about the kids not being able to catch panfish. Growing up we had a pond just outside of town. As kids we would climb down a steep hill, walk the train tracks for about 2 miles and then cross a busy road just to get to fish for bluegills. 

That's what got me started.  A rail road " borrow " pit.  Many great memories catching pan fish all summer long.

[CrankFate]

Catching animals, including fish, is terribly disfavored by the majority of people now a days. Add that to getting dirty and covered with fish slime and fish scales, plus a single pack of rubber worms and a single pack of hooks costs at least $15.00, if not 20, no one is spending that kind of money doing this. Very few parents of this generation are going to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to go catch (and torture) a few fish for fun. It’s about $150.00 to 200.00 for a simple family pond outing, with gear, food and everything else. And, at any price, most people don’t have the time to spend a full day fishing every week or two. 

 

Fishing became a niche activity over the last 50 years. The only way to get kids fishing is to take them fishing. My kids often want the snacks and goodies we get when we go, but if nothing is biting, they are ready to leave within an hour.

 

I personally believe the number of single parent households has killed the sport. Fishing is not a womans sport. And men and women have patience for different things. Men can spend days trying to show kids how to tie a hook, bait a hook and throw a cast. Women don’t have patience for that. And without two parents, it’s basically impossible to have enough time to waste half the weekend torturing innocent fish. Very sad. I started fishing at 2 and have fished the whole 41 years since then. The world has changed.

 

You just have to get the kids out there whenever you can and hope they have fun. 

[MN Fisher]

Remember that most of the parents of young kids now-days are in their mid-20s to early 30s. As the Internet is over 20 years old, they grew up with it. Being outdoors, watching a bobber isn't near as 'interesting' as playing games, chatting with friends in chat-rooms, searching for new information.

 

Cost wise, it's a non-issue really. A starting spin-cast combo can be had for less than $20, worms dug up in the back yard, most everyone is close to at least a pond with sunnies or perch. It doesn't take hundreds of dollars for an afternoon outing.

 

My neighbor hood has a number of children - 6 houses close with from 2 to 3 kids in each, all under 11 years old. Three of those households are 'outdoorsy', and the kids love going out on the boat with dad to do some fishing. The other three are 'internet babysat', and besides playing with the other kids here in the neighborhood, they spend their time on their smart-phones...ya, pre-teens with their own phones...sheesh.

 

7 minutes ago, CrankFate said:

Catching animals, including fish, is terribly disfavored by the majority of people now a days.

I think it's just a VERY vocal minority, forcing their views on the majority. I'm all for treating farm animals humanely before slaughter - I'm NOT for banning meat products all together like some of the crazies.

[CrankFate]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

 

I think it's just a VERY vocal minority, forcing their views on the majority. I'm all for treating farm animals humanely before slaughter - I'm NOT for banning meat products all together like some of the crazies.

Don’t get me started on this topic. I’m all for humane treatment, too. Then you get the morons who protest the farming of exotic animals for the markets in places like China. The crazies literally get the farms shut down, which forces more poaching of the endangered species they say they want to protect. I’m not for banning these things. They just need to be managed sensibly. 

[roadwarrior]

C'mon guys...Let's stay on topic.

 

-Kent  a.k.a. roadwarrior

Global Moderator

[Mobasser]

I applaud all who take kids fishing, and are involved in programs that teach fishing.

[The Short Fisherman]

When I was a kid i didn't care much about what I caught, just liked to catch a ton of fish. Worm fishing got boring sometimes though so if the kids are getting bored try switching it up to a small grub or minnow imitation like a mr.crappie lightning shad on a jighead. They're almost impossible to fish wrong and catch a ton of fish. Once kids start growing up into their teens though, they want to try to catch bigger and different types of fish. When I turned 11 I started getting into fishing and catching bigger and different types of fish, and went fishing almost everyday. I kept on fishing because I kept on discovering new species and different tequniques, which made me want to try them out and get out on the water. You can also show some children fishing videos to get them more interested. An Important thing to remember is to let them pick out their own lures. I always loved to pick out and try my own lures and going to different tackle shops. Right now I'm 14 years old and these are still the main reasons on why I fish.

[CrankFate]

I still have fun when you throw a piece of worm in an a thousand baby blue gills attack it. The kids love fishing that way. So I’ll do it too. There are 1lb+ BG’s just beyond them and also bass that are basically managing them as forage farms. Sometimes, you can get those bass, too. It’s just not easy, because with a thousand 2.5” blue gills around, they aren’t very hungry and are too lazy to chase anything unless you really tick them off with noisy baits.

 

lets throw a picture in, my youngest son’s first LMB, for this pond this is big. You gotta make sure they get a few of these a season to keep them interested.

[LadiMopar]

10 hours ago, CrankFate said:

Fishing is not a womans sport. And men and women have patience for different things. Men can spend days trying to show kids how to tie a hook, bait a hook and throw a cast. Women don’t have patience for that. 

 

I don't usually react to this sort of thing, but I absolutely disagree with your "assessment" of women and the sport of fishing.

I've got 50+ years under my belt, sold gear and managed several tackle shops in my day as well. I have recently started tournament fishing.

Am I the exception and not the rule, maybe to a degree but all of my female friends fish, all have shared their enjoyment of the sport with their kids and grandkids.

 

And now a few stats from US Fish and wildlife:

 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife data, collected in part by Florida research firm Southwick Associates, shows that in 2001, 26.1 percent of freshwater anglers and 9.2 percent of hunters were female. In 2011, women comprised nearly 27 percent of all inland anglers and 11 percent of hunters.

 

The newest numbers of anglers by gender in 2017: 65.2% male, 34.8% female.

For complete stats of recreational fishing:   https://www.statista.com/topics/1163/recreational-fishing/

[Bluebasser86]

Kids just need someone to take them. My sister-in-law is a kindergarten teacher and I've gone to talk to her class several times in uniform about my work and as part of it I make sure to remind the kids that police officers are just normal people like them. Last time I mentioned I liked fishing and the whole class wanted to talk about fishing after that. Most were inner city kids who said they wanted to go but either their parents wouldn't take them or they had nowhere to go. 

[CrankFate]

9 hours ago, LadiMopar said:

 

I don't usually react to this sort of thing, but I absolutely disagree with your "assessment" of women and the sport of fishing.

I've got 50+ years under my belt, sold gear and managed several tackle shops in my day as well. I have recently started tournament fishing.

Am I the exception and not the rule, maybe to a degree but all of my female friends fish, all have shared their enjoyment of the sport with their kids and grandkids.

 

And now a few stats from US Fish and wildlife:

 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife data, collected in part by Florida research firm Southwick Associates, shows that in 2001, 26.1 percent of freshwater anglers and 9.2 percent of hunters were female. In 2011, women comprised nearly 27 percent of all inland anglers and 11 percent of hunters.

 

The newest numbers of anglers by gender in 2017: 65.2% male, 34.8% female.

For complete stats of recreational fishing:   https://www.statista.com/topics/1163/recreational-fishing/

I have never seen more that 2-3% of the people fishing that were female. Maybe one or two every so often, but never 2-3 out of every 10. I just wonder how many of them register or get a license to take a few kids fishing once or twice a year? I would think 40-50 percent of men that get licenses only go fishing 2 or 3 times a season.

 

It would be great if more people went fishing, women and men.

[NHBull]

My grandons are still a bit young, but last summer I put shines in one live well and gave him an aquarium net.  He spent hours transferring them to the other well and back.  It's another form of play until the bug hits.  

[Glaucus]

8 hours ago, CrankFate said:

I have never seen more that 2-3% of the people fishing that were female. Maybe one or two every so often, but never 2-3 out of every 10. I just wonder how many of them register or get a license to take a few kids fishing once or twice a year? I would think 40-50 percent of men that get licenses only go fishing 2 or 3 times a season.

 

It would be great if more people went fishing, women and men.

Yeah I'm not really buying that either. It's not that women can't fish, it's just that most women don't want to fish. My wife fishes with me. She's the exception, not the rule, but even then it's maybe 1 in 10 trips, and we just got her taking her own fish off the hook last year. 

[CrankFate]

1 hour ago, Glaucus said:

Yeah I'm not really buying that either. It's not that women can't fish, it's just that most women don't want to fish. My wife fishes with me. She's the exception, not the rule, but even then it's maybe 1 in 10 trips, and we just got her taking her own fish off the hook last year. 

I never meant women can’t fish, but I don’t see them fishing very often. There are probably less women fishing here in NY than in other more rural areas.

[Gundog]

As far as women not liking to fish, I think you are mistaking "hardcore" fishing with "just fishing". A friend of mine fishes with his wife but not in the same way he fishes with me. No constantly casting and using different baits. With his wife they just use bobbers and worms or inline spinners. 

[schplurg]

On 2/7/2019 at 5:20 PM, The Maestro said:

Imo you've either got the fishing bug or you don't.  It's easy to forget that fishing really doesn't appeal to very many people.   At least not on the level that hardcore anglers feel about it.  It's been my experience that it's actually a very rare thing to meet other serious anglers in your day to day life.  Just about all the ones I know I met through clubs and tournaments etc...

 

Disagree about the bug. I acquired the fishing bug just a year ago and I'm 51. I'm pretty serious about it and getting moreso all the time.

 

Last summer I was bank fishing and a couple showed up with their two little girls. One approached me and I asked her if she fished (she was probably 8-10 years old).

 

She said, "No! I hate fish!" Not sure what she meant.

 

A moment later I got a bite and you should have seen the expressions on her and her sisters faces as I hauled it in. They were both very excited. I let them check out the striper I'd caught, then released it. I saw a spark there.

 

That is the moment to hand a kid a pole and let them try. In fact if I'd let her reel it in she may have been hooked right there. Maybe not professional tourney hooked, but hooked.

 

I myself got hooked about a year ago. I moved near the Cali Delta and a bunch of lakes, plus a Bass Pro Shops. One bored day I asked myself why I wasn't fishing. Watched some fishing videos - people getting excited. I Bought a cheap BPS combo the next day and never looked back.

 

To answer the question though, how to get kids into fishing:

 

Steps:

- take away their smart phone.

- make them play outside! 

 

My parents wanted me OUT of the house to play, not inside. Parents today - man I am SO glad I'm not a kid today. What a shame.

[Glaucus]

3 hours ago, schplurg said:

 

Disagree about the bug. I acquired the fishing bug just a year ago and I'm 51. I'm pretty serious about it and getting moreso all the time.

 

Last summer I was bank fishing and a couple showed up with their two little girls. One approached me and I asked her if she fished (she was probably 8-10 years old).

 

She said, "No! I hate fish!" Not sure what she meant.

 

A moment later I got a bite and you should have seen the expressions on her and her sisters faces as I hauled it in. They were both very excited. I let them check out the striper I'd caught, then released it. I saw a spark there.

 

That is the moment to hand a kid a pole and let them try. In fact if I'd let her reel it in she may have been hooked right there. Maybe not professional tourney hooked, but hooked.

 

I myself got hooked about a year ago. I moved near the Cali Delta and a bunch of lakes, plus a Bass Pro Shops. One bored day I asked myself why I wasn't fishing. Watched some fishing videos - people getting excited. I Bought a cheap BPS combo the next day and never looked back.

 

To answer the question though, how to get kids into fishing:

 

Steps:

- take away their smart phone.

- make them play outside! 

 

My parents wanted me OUT of the house to play, not inside. Parents today - man I am SO glad I'm not a kid today. What a shame.

Fishing bug is real. It doesn't matter the age. It's all about when, how, and why it happens, and you don't always get born and bred into it. I picked up fishing all on my own. Because of me my dad is getting into it. I had parents that wanted me outside doing normal stuff rather than in front of a screen. They built me up for football though. I was running 4:14 miles and being scouted as a freshman for WR and CB. Then I had a freak injury that cracked my skull, caused me to nearly bleed to death, forget most of my youth, and I later developed PTSD in another matter killing my football career. I picked up a rod at the store one day to see if I liked it and never looked back. It's my new life (well, many years old now but new as in it is what I do now rather than football)

[lonnie g]

all kids strive to get some kind of attention, use this . take kids that like basketball, maybe involve there coach, then use the fishing event to teach the kids something new,then kids then also realize more than one person taking interest in them. make it fun and memorable. use your knowledge of the fish , water ,wildlife, etc.. to make it informative and interesting.i guess in this fast paced era that we live in we have to think outside the box. plant the seed somewhere one wouldn't expect, or maybe would ,just haven't thought it. schools ,groups, teams,  fire , police,  rescue,  court systems, ect... kids deffinatly gravitate towards attention, apply fishing to that attention. I know that my grandkids love the time we have together. and now even ask "when are we going fishing"

[The Dread Pirate Fisherman]

On February 9, 2019 at 11:19 AM, CrankFate said:

Catching animals, including fish, is terribly disfavored by the majority of people now a days. Add that to getting dirty and covered with fish slime and fish scales, plus a single pack of rubber worms and a single pack of hooks costs at least $15.00, if not 20, no one is spending that kind of money doing this. Very few parents of this generation are going to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to go catch (and torture) a few fish for fun. It’s about $150.00 to 200.00 for a simple family pond outing, with gear, food and everything else. And, at any price, most people don’t have the time to spend a full day fishing every week or two. 

 

Fishing became a niche activity over the last 50 years. The only way to get kids fishing is to take them fishing. My kids often want the snacks and goodies we get when we go, but if nothing is biting, they are ready to leave within an hour.

 

I personally believe the number of single parent households has killed the sport. Fishing is not a womans sport. And men and women have patience for different things. Men can spend days trying to show kids how to tie a hook, bait a hook and throw a cast. Women don’t have patience for that. And without two parents, it’s basically impossible to have enough time to waste half the weekend torturing innocent fish. Very sad. I started fishing at 2 and have fished the whole 41 years since then. The world has changed.

 

You just have to get the kids out there whenever you can and hope they have fun. 

Not that I totally disagree about the cost but you can set up a kid with a 20 dollar Zebco combo and they're happy catching bait fish all day long...No? Last year I watched a 8yo catch a 8lb bass on a 20$ zebco combo 8 pound mono using a bobber and a live worm approximately 10ft from the shore. As for fishing not being a woman's sport you'd better talk to the founder of Bass Resource Glenn May and his wife about that one seeing as she is fishing with him and doing the camera work in most of his videos. Also my experience has been completely different in that woman have 10x's the patience required for fishing because they're the ones who have the patience to carry a child 9 to 10 months and that in my book is the ultimate in patience. 

[CrankFate]

I’ll never live down the comment about fishing being mainly a men’s thing. I rarely see women fishing.

 

[The Dread Pirate Fisherman]

25 minutes ago, CrankFate said:

I’ll never live down the comment about fishing being mainly a men’s thing. I rarely see women fishing.

 

I suppose it's how you put it in your OP. "Woman don't have patience for that" referring to the opposite sex in that way doesn't lend to attracting them to the sport. No harm no fowl just saying.