Fishing with the GM Day

[Koz]

As many of you know, I'm the General Manager for a hotel on a lake, so of course I tried to find a way to make fishing part of my job. I'm trying to promote the "guest experience" at our hotel with different family friendly events. Friday night was S'Mores night down at our fire pit and tonight was Fish with the GM night at the hotel.

 

I purchased some cheap Zebco spin cast rods, some soft plastic grubs, and some night crawlers and redworms figuring the best bet was to fish for bluegills, bream, and crappie and maybe luck into a bass or two. I even bought some pond fish food to help chum teh water a bit.

 

Fishing at our docks has been lousy lately. The water level is normally 4-6 feet around the docks, but the water level has been down by a foot lately. Other than one guest catching a 3 foot gar on Friday I haven't seen anyone catch any fish and I've been fishing elsewhere on the lake out in my kayak. Tonight was also really, really windy out making it even more difficult to cast those little Zebco's.

 

So I set up the rods with tiny little hooks and instead of having the kids cast I had them punch the button and just drop the line and tiny bobber off the dock. It was slow for a bit, but I chummed the water and the kids had a blast catching bluegills. There were even a few tiny bass and tiny catfish caught out there.

 

Best of all, every kid and even the adults that fished all caught something. I had made up some "Certified Angler Award" certificates for the kids and put their names on them along with my official signature. The kids and the parents loved it.

 

I spent most of my time putting worms on hooks, teaching kids to fish, and showing the kids how to release the fish, but I did manage to take a few casts with some bass gear and I caught - nothing. Zip. Zilch. I was hoping to catch a decent sized bass to show the kids, but it was not to be.

 

The little girl in the picture below caught 5 or 6 little fish and she was just thrilled with her evening out there. It looks like we'll be doing this on a regular basis as the kids and parents loved the event. As for me, I made fishing an integral part of my job!

 

[Hammer 4]

Sounds like your doing a Great job at the hotel. Making the kids happy is the best.

[GaryH]

7 hours ago, Koz said:

As many of you know, I'm the General Manager for a hotel on a lake, so of course I tried to find a way to make fishing part of my job. I'm trying to promote the "guest experience" at our hotel with different family friendly events. Friday night was S'Mores night down at our fire pit and tonight was Fish with the GM night at the hotel.

 

I purchased some cheap Zebco spin cast rods, some soft plastic grubs, and some night crawlers and redworms figuring the best bet was to fish for bluegills, bream, and crappie and maybe luck into a bass or two. I even bought some pond fish food to help chum teh water a bit.

 

Fishing at our docks has been lousy lately. The water level is normally 4-6 feet around the docks, but the water level has been down by a foot lately. Other than one guest catching a 3 foot gar on Friday I haven't seen anyone catch any fish and I've been fishing elsewhere on the lake out in my kayak. Tonight was also really, really windy out making it even more difficult to cast those little Zebco's.

 

So I set up the rods with tiny little hooks and instead of having the kids cast I had them punch the button and just drop the line and tiny bobber off the dock. It was slow for a bit, but I chummed the water and the kids had a blast catching bluegills. There were even a few tiny bass and tiny catfish caught out there.

 

Best of all, every kid and even the adults that fished all caught something. I had made up some "Certified Angler Award" certificates for the kids and put their names on them along with my official signature. The kids and the parents loved it.

 

I spent most of my time putting worms on hooks, teaching kids to fish, and showing the kids how to release the fish, but I did manage to take a few casts with some bass gear and I caught - nothing. Zip. Zilch. I was hoping to catch a decent sized bass to show the kids, but it was not to be.

 

The little girl in the picture below caught 5 or 6 little fish and she was just thrilled with her evening out there. It looks like we'll be doing this on a regular basis as the kids and parents loved the event. As for me, I made fishing an integral part of my job!

 

Great job Koz 

[jimmyjoe]

  Being a good manager is nice.

  Being a good human being is a lot better.  ?     jj

[DitchPanda]

I've been trying to figure out how I can incorporate fishing into my work. Of course working as a plant technician making ethanol for a biofuel company...I haven't found a way to make it work yet!

[Deleted account]

Oh man, so disappointed. I came here to see a couple of Silverados beach seining...  

[FishinBuck07]

Nice job sir!  Nothing like getting kids involved in the sport we all love, that may have never had the chance to do so!  I second the good human being comment!

[HaydenS]

22 hours ago, Koz said:

As many of you know, I'm the General Manager for a hotel on a lake, so of course I tried to find a way to make fishing part of my job. I'm trying to promote the "guest experience" at our hotel with different family friendly events. Friday night was S'Mores night down at our fire pit and tonight was Fish with the GM night at the hotel.

 

I purchased some cheap Zebco spin cast rods, some soft plastic grubs, and some night crawlers and redworms figuring the best bet was to fish for bluegills, bream, and crappie and maybe luck into a bass or two. I even bought some pond fish food to help chum teh water a bit.

 

Fishing at our docks has been lousy lately. The water level is normally 4-6 feet around the docks, but the water level has been down by a foot lately. Other than one guest catching a 3 foot gar on Friday I haven't seen anyone catch any fish and I've been fishing elsewhere on the lake out in my kayak. Tonight was also really, really windy out making it even more difficult to cast those little Zebco's.

 

So I set up the rods with tiny little hooks and instead of having the kids cast I had them punch the button and just drop the line and tiny bobber off the dock. It was slow for a bit, but I chummed the water and the kids had a blast catching bluegills. There were even a few tiny bass and tiny catfish caught out there.

 

Best of all, every kid and even the adults that fished all caught something. I had made up some "Certified Angler Award" certificates for the kids and put their names on them along with my official signature. The kids and the parents loved it.

 

I spent most of my time putting worms on hooks, teaching kids to fish, and showing the kids how to release the fish, but I did manage to take a few casts with some bass gear and I caught - nothing. Zip. Zilch. I was hoping to catch a decent sized bass to show the kids, but it was not to be.

 

The little girl in the picture below caught 5 or 6 little fish and she was just thrilled with her evening out there. It looks like we'll be doing this on a regular basis as the kids and parents loved the event. As for me, I made fishing an integral part of my job!

 

Great work!  I know what hotel I want to stay at next!

 

3 hours ago, FishinBuck07 said:

Nice job sir!  Nothing like getting kids involved in the sport we all love, that may have never had the chance to do so!  I second the good human being comment!

These guys thrive in ethanol tanks. 

Secretly throw a few in and then tell your boss they need to be removed, and that you're the perfect guy for the job.

[Koz]

We had our second Fishing with the GM event this past Saturday morning at my hotel.  Both kids, parents, and one grandmother fished that day and everyone except grandma caught something.

 

I set up early and got some pre-fishing in because I wanted to try out my new St. Croix Mojo Yak rod (7' M). It seemed decent fishing off the dock, but the real reason I bought it was the shorter handle so it doesn't  hang up in my PFD when I'm sitting in the kayak. Unfortunately, I have not had time to test it out on the water, and when I had time on Sunday it was windy and raining all day.

 

Pre-fishing was a total loss, however. No bites in the 20 minutes I fished and then snagged a Z-Man Jackhammer and snapped the line when trying to free it.

 

Once the fishing lesson with the kids ended and the fishing began I was too busy baiting hooks and unbuttoning little bluegills to get in any fishing of my own. But that's OK. The kids and parents had a blast. But one day I hope one of the kids lands a nice 2 pound bass.

 

Here's a few photos from the event.

[GreenPig]

Koz that's a special thing you're doing. Thank you. Kids nowadays are forced to grow up too quickly and miss out on the things many of us have cherished memories of.

[ironbjorn]

Maybe I can talk my boss into letting me drive my forklift down to the lake.

[Darth-Baiter]

Whoa! …. And they pay you?!!

 

great stuff K. 

[roadwarrior]

[Koz]

12 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

Whoa! …. And they pay you?!!

 

great stuff K. 

Yes they do. And the hotel owner loves that I came up with this and other guest events. He even called me first thing this morning to see how the weekend events went.

 

Next I need to convince him we need a bass boat ?

[HaydenS]

3 minutes ago, Koz said:

Next I need to convince him we need a bass boat ?

You didn't need to put a laughing emoji there.  Actually try and convince him.  A hotel with a guide service, sounds like my kinda place.

[Koz]

3 hours ago, HaydenS said:

You didn't need to put a laughing emoji there.  Actually try and convince him.  A hotel with a guide service, sounds like my kinda place.

Maybe in about 2 years after the hotel transformation and renovations are complete. I'm lucky if I get a few hours a week to go fish on my own. Labor shortages and supply chain issues have been brutal.

[Log Catcher]

Glad this is working out the way you wanted it to. One thing to think about is putting some kind of safety railing around the pier. It might make it a little tougher for fishing but if it keeps a child from falling in the water it would be worth it.

[Koz]

1 hour ago, Log Catcher said:

Glad this is working out the way you wanted it to. One thing to think about is putting some kind of safety railing around the pier. It might make it a little tougher for fishing but if it keeps a child from falling in the water it would be worth it.

Believe it or not, if you put up safety railing it opens you up to more liability if the railing fails or someone falls in. Plus, most of our slips are occupied by boats every weekend. I block that one off on those Fishing with the GM days because that's where all of the bluegills tend to gather.

 

If you look in the picture, parents are also with the kids while they fish. The posted rule is that all kids must be accompanied by an adult on the docks.

 

But I do appreciate your concern. Thanks.

 

The next fishing day is over the July 4th weekend if anyone is interested. Unfortunately, you'd have to be a local or stay with a competitor since we're already sold out!

[Koz]

We were back at it with Fishing with the GM this morning and the turnout was disappointing. We normally have 8-12 people fishing with us, but we got hit with a huge number of cancellations on Thursday and Friday for Friday night, How many? We went from being full to only 2/3 full.

 

We had a grand total of one kid join us this morning. The good news is that the streak continued that every participant has caught at least one fish. Again, it was only small bluegills but at least it's something.

 

With only one participant I had time to fish off of our docks myself for bass and crappie and didn't even get a bite. We're in the back of a shallow cove and the bass just haven't been there since the water hit 80 degrees. I'll be out on my kayak first thing in the morning on Sunday before the pleasure boaters show up and hopefully I can find the bass.

 

The good news today is that I got my son to come out and help me. Because he's 15 he hates most things dad likes now. After being an avid bass angler himself he's just not into it anymore. But tomorrow morning I'm forcing him to take out one of the hotel kayaks and join me on the water for a while. He's the giant in the photo below.

 

 

 

[islandbass]

32 minutes ago, Koz said:

We were back at it with Fishing with the GM this morning and the turnout was disappointing. We normally have 8-12 people fishing with us, but we got hit with a huge number of cancellations on Thursday and Friday for Friday night, How many? We went from being full to only 2/3 full.

 

We had a grand total of one kid join us this morning. The good news is that the streak continued that every participant has caught at least one fish. Again, it was only small bluegills but at least it's something.

 

With only one participant I had time to fish off of our docks myself for bass and crappie and didn't even get a bite. We're in the back of a shallow cove and the bass just haven't been there since the water hit 80 degrees. I'll be out on my kayak first thing in the morning on Sunday before the pleasure boaters show up and hopefully I can find the bass.

 

The good news today is that I got my son to come out and help me. Because he's 15 he hates most things dad likes now. After being an avid bass angler himself he's just not into it anymore. But tomorrow morning I'm forcing him to take out one of the hotel kayaks and join me on the water for a while. He's the giant in the photo below.

 

 

 

I can relate. My son was a fish catching machine when he was young. He’s 16 now and he does not want to fish anymore. At all. 
 

 

[Captain Phil]

You never know what long term effect you may have on a kid's life.  The first fish I caught by myself was a 4" blue gill.  This lead me to a lifetime of great experiences.  Before I retired, I was involved in volunteer charity work back in Miami.  I wanted to work with kids by introducing them to fishing.  I found a local government program where troubled teens were housed.  They earned points for good behavior and could use their points for outside activities.  Accompanied by a counselor, I was able to take some of these kids offshore fishing in my boat.  These kids had never been in a boat before.  One of them was the daughter of a notorious drug dealer.  Another lived in a house with no windows.  I often wonder if I made a difference in their life?  One of those kids you are teaching to fish could be President of the United States some day.  We need more programs like that.

[the reel ess]

Very cool. Those kids won't forget it. If I may make a suggestion, if it isn't illegal there, you could place some fish attractors under the dock.

[TheBasslayer]

11 hours ago, Koz said:

We were back at it with Fishing with the GM this morning and the turnout was disappointing. We normally have 8-12 people fishing with us, but we got hit with a huge number of cancellations on Thursday and Friday for Friday night, How many? We went from being full to only 2/3 full.

 

We had a grand total of one kid join us this morning. The good news is that the streak continued that every participant has caught at least one fish. Again, it was only small bluegills but at least it's something.

 

With only one participant I had time to fish off of our docks myself for bass and crappie and didn't even get a bite. We're in the back of a shallow cove and the bass just haven't been there since the water hit 80 degrees. I'll be out on my kayak first thing in the morning on Sunday before the pleasure boaters show up and hopefully I can find the bass.

 

The good news today is that I got my son to come out and help me. Because he's 15 he hates most things dad likes now. After being an avid bass angler himself he's just not into it anymore. But tomorrow morning I'm forcing him to take out one of the hotel kayaks and join me on the water for a while. He's the giant in the photo below.

 

 

 

I’m 15 and I like fishing! But my dad sadly doesn’t like fishing too much.

[islandbass]

10 minutes ago, TheBasslayer said:

I’m 15 and I like fishing! But my dad sadly doesn’t like fishing too much.

Ah, the tables turned around. Nothing wrong with the son taking the father fishing. That was actually the case for me. I took my dad fishing for his first time when he was in his late 60s and he enjoyed it. 

 

If you want him to go with you, just tell him it would be great father/son time. It might be a great incentive for him to spend time with you. 

[TheBasslayer]

3 minutes ago, islandbass said:

Ah, the tables turned around. Nothing wrong with the son taking the father fishing. That was actually the case for me. I took my dad fishing for his first time when he was in his late 60s and he enjoyed it. 

 

If you want him to go with you, just tell him it would be great father/son time. It might be a great incentive for him to spend time with you. 

He is trying to like it more now! I just let him use a Zebco 33, and if I give him one of mine, he says he’d rather use the spin caster. We do spend time together when we fish!