fishing with wife and kids

[Guest hibachi]

my wife loves fishing, and i love taking her with me, i also have 2 and 3 y/o kids.  so they come too.  i bring toys for them to play with, and of course, you can't ask them to be silent.  i saw bill dance said that bass are very aware of vibrations, but 99% of sound is reflected off the water.  so i guess that means it's okay for them to talk but not bang on the bottom of the boat.  my question is, how much does the noise that is made inside the boat effect how the bass are going to respond.  I will say, i have often seen bass swimming close to the surface within 4 feet of my boat when the kids are being loud as crazy.  thanks in advance.

[NEBassMan]

I know no specifics, but as with you, i don't really care a whole lot about what's going on above the water as in talking, screaming, what have you.  But, i try very hard to keep from banging the bottom of the boat, dropping things, etc.

Jason

[WhiteMike1018]

Hib

There are so many factors to consider in how "spooky" a bass can get from sound or vibrations, and it would take a very long time to explain all the details.

i saw bill dance said that bass are very aware of vibrations, but 99% of sound is reflected off the water

Yes the bass are definately aware of the vibrations but its not 99% of the time that the vibrations effect the fishing.

If your out with your wife and kids dont even worry about it, just have fun and fish man, I would definately make long casts though if it makes you feel any better.

Of course I believe silence is golden on the water, but dont worry about the uncontrollable variables.

Also check out www.bassprofessor.com

On this site Doug Hannon has many videos about bass behavior, one of which talks about vibrations and sound in the water.

Also, I reccomend getting his E-book, big bass magic by telling 3 of your friends about the website.

Hope this helps

-WM

[jiangtao]

I don't know what makes a fish spooky in what given situation,but I have caught 3 Bass from under a pier while wading and tripping over stumps about 5 feet away from it!Go figure and go fish!!!

[Gatorbassman]

I have two boys who are 3 and 5 years old and they do make noise while we are fishing. But I remind myself that I'm not there to catch fish. I am there to enjoy my time with the kids.

With that said. There is a technique that we use to catch hybrid and stripped bass on my lake. We find a school of baitfish in deep water that has inactive bass under it. Then we take a broom handle and bang it on the bottom of the boat for most of the time we are fishing. This causes the baitfish to scatter and it triggers the bass to start feeding. Then we start catching. It really works.

[Guest avid]

whenever I have taken a child fishing I always looked at it as an outing for the child and not a fishing trip for me.  This way I can devote my attention to teaching and parenting without feeling like I'm missing out on "my time".  

[Gotta Love It]

whenever I have taken a child fishing I always looked at it as an outing for the child and not a fishing trip for me. This way I can devote my attention to teaching and parenting without feeling like I'm missing out on "my time".

Well said Avid!  I agree!  When I take my daughter, I usually don't fish so I can devote time to teaching her...  

[Cravin]

Great answer Avid.

Family first, Fish second, And hopefully you get both.

[Bankbeater]

whenever I have taken a child fishing I always looked at it as an outing for the child and not a fishing trip for me.  This way I can devote my attention to teaching and parenting without feeling like I'm missing out on "my time".  

Well said Avid!  I agree!  When I take my daughter, I usually don't fish so I can devote time to teaching her...  

And don't forget tons of pics with big smiles.

[mikfort51]

When my kids were younger they had a hard time staying in the boat when we stopped to fish.  They would usually fish for about five minutes before they became bored and wanted to go swimming.  I once caught a 3lb and 5lb bass on consecutive casts with the girls splashing and having a good time less than 10 ft away.  Everybody was having fun!

[Guest hibachi]

Well, I appreciate the comments.  I do have to say, my kids are 1 and 2, so there's not much I can 'teach' them at this age.  Though I do really look forward to the time when I can teach them to fish.  For now, it's something my wife and I love to do together, and I love having my kids with me as well.  I was just wondering if the sound of the kids banging toys on the bottom of the boat would make it harder for me to catch fish.  Because, I'm not kidding myself... I WANT TO CATCH FISH!

[jomatty]

i have a 4 year old that often accompanies me when i go fishing.  its been my experience that there is no way to stop the noise and trying to will make us both not enjoy ourselves.  the best i can manage is to get him not to throw rocks in the water and play drums on the bottom of the boat (you can see that our outings are really strict).  as far as talking and even yelling i for the most part just bite my lip and have fun anyways.

does it hurt the fishing?  imho it does 100% hurt the fishing.  do we still catch fish?   absolutely, plenty of them, and we have a better time if im not trying to get a kid to not act like one (i realize you never mentioned any intention of trying to change your childrens behavior just mentioning my experiences)

i think my son would have a better time i didnt even bring a rod, and sometimes at the pond near our house i wont, but generally im too selfish for that  

it will be easier when he can tie a knot, hes only 4 now,

matt