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Kid Fishing
By Nickfish & Dad (Matt)
Matt - One question I get asked all the time is “How did you get Nick into fishing?” I think there was a combination of things that factor into getting kids involved with fishing and more importantly having them enjoying it and wanting to get out fishing more often. In this modern world of Minecraft, Xbox, and other indoor gaming activities, it's hard to compete getting kids outdoors and into the world of fishing.
Nick - One of my first fishing memories was also one of my first Easters at Notch Point, camping with all my cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents and we had five or six boats. We had woken up, launched the boats to check the pots and found a sandy beach to fish, deciding to pull up there, stick some rods in the holder and spend the day there playing in the sand. We caught some snodger whiting and my uncle hooked a nice barramundi. After that we went back to camp and my cousins and I played in the rock pools, catching small crabs and fish, followed by a nice feed of fish and crab for dinner. To this day we still spend Easter and a lot of our holidays there.
Matt - The first time we took Nick on the boat, he was two years old. Lifejacket on and safe in Mum’s arms, we took off from the ramp aimed at a known spot that always holds plenty of juvenile fish. I think this was a big factor in getting Nick to enjoy fishing. A light rod, like the Okuma Vibe spin combo, small hooks and a packet of frozen prawns and it wasn't long before the first small grunter was landed. The fish was a mighty size of around 12cm and Nick was able to wind the reel and land the fish with minimal help. Most importantly, he could touch the fish and watch it swim away. Quite literally, he was hooked. When taking kids out fishing, especially at an early age, keep the fishing simple. Don't aim for the metre barramundi first trip out. While these are epic catches, boredom kicks in quick with the kids and they don't want to spend the time sitting there looking at sounder images… just yet. They are just happy to catch fish of any size.
Nick - When I was really keen on fishing, I started making my own soft plastics, which worked really well for flathead fishing. My biggest flathead that I caught on my own lures was 58cm and it was caught on my favourite lure, the flathead magic. The fight was epic. Let me tell you about it. We were fishing in one of our favourite flathead spots and a friend of ours was fishing with us. He had been casting in the same spot for at least 30 minutes and he moved on to another section of the beach. I moved to where he was and first cast, I hooked the flathead. It was an epic fight, the fish never gave up and I caught another two that day, giving the plastic its name, flathead magic. Since then, I now exclusively fish with ZMan soft plastics, due to their softness and durability, that allows me to catch hundreds of fish on one lure. They just simply work, whether it be for flathead, barramundi, or even chasing reefies around the islands.
Matt - This is not to say that kids can't catch great fish. Currently in our household I hold the biggest barra and biggest flathead, but unfortunately Nick’s catches of mackerel, red emperor, grunter, black jew, coral trout, plus a few more, see him holding these ‘household’ records. When we head out with the family (his two sisters), we still to this day take the sand toys with us for his younger sisters when heading over to the islands. As the family's favourite fishing destination is North Keppel, fishing and playing on the beach crossover quite regularly. This way they can still catch some nice fish and have a great time digging and playing in the sand. A set of beach rod holders is handy in this situation. When heading out in the boat, we always pack colouring in gear and when Nick was younger it was not uncommon to take toy cars to play with in between bites.
Nick - One of our favourite fishing destinations is North Keppel and we love it there. The reason that we love it (if you ask my sisters, they say they hate it, but they really actually love it) so much is because of the number of fish that are there and the beautiful scenery. When we are fishing there, I bait their hooks and cast for them, but I also try to teach them how to bait and how to cast a rod, which they are slowly learning how to do. I also set the hooks for my sisters to wind in the fish and I love to see how much fun they have landing the fish. They also love to release the fish and watch it swim away.
Matt - We’ve had some great mornings getting up early (3am) to head out for a fish. Nothing beats sitting on the water as a shooting star screams across the sky. Watching the sun rise or set over the water and the time spent walking across the mudflats to chase bait or to fish the shallows targeting a flathead. I quite often read comments from parents about how hard it is because you are always baiting and casting out their rods. When I first started fishing with Nick, when he really started to love fishing, I didn't even take a rod myself, or if I did, I’d set it out with a big live bait. When the kids are young, yes, they need help to cast, and they want to wind the rod in every two minutes. I’d often put a plastic or small hard body on the rod so that as they can wind it in, they may even hook a fish while they’re at it.
Nick - I have seen many epic things while I have been fishing, including a meteor shower and dolphins coming up to eat the fish that we were putting back. One of my favourites was when we were fishing 80 kilometres out, chasing red emperor and a whale and her calf came out of nowhere and swam beside the boat. The calf went in one direction and the mother came right to the boat and sat under the boat for about a few minutes before it swam away. I think that the mother was protecting her calf. One time we were out really early in the morning. We were heading out to one of our mackerel spots, when a meteor shower was happening right before our eyes. It was an amazing sight. Not many people get to see this amazing sight because of all the streetlights in the towns and city. I could go on and on about all the stuff that I have seen while fishing.
Matt - We are now at the stage where Nick packs everything for our fishing trips. From a young age, I have had him involved with setting everything up, packing the boat and getting gear ready. Don't expect the kids to be tying knots on the first trip, but certainly they can help get rods out, pack PFDs (life jackets), and all the other gear required for a day out. Having them involved with everything that goes along with the fishing trip teaches them to respect the gear, but also gets them involved with the adventure from the get go. All three of my kids can drive the boat (some with a little bit of help), they all look for their PFD before we leave the ramp and quite often, I have to ‘time’ each ones turn to drive the boat, so that they all get a go.
From setting the anchor, to starting the boat, having the kids involved with every process involved with fishing not only gets them keen but teaches them the skills they can use. Of course, safety needs to be considered, so when setting the anchor, I take the weight, and when driving the boat, I have the kill switch in hand (just in case) and am always close by. Then, when home again, I have instilled the great ethic of cleaning the boat and motor, cleaning the fishing gear, and putting it all away, by getting the kids to help. Who doesn't love a water fight after a long hot day on the water.
Nick - I have had some epic trips, ever since I started fishing, such as fishing in one of our favourite bream and flathead spots. Small trevally and queenfish came out of nowhere and started smacking a school of bait. We tried to hook some but failed. It was still great to watch them follow a ZMan 2.5” Slim SwimZ and swim around the boat.
My all-time favourite trip was a trip at Yellow Patch, which is known for its epic flathead fishing. We had never fished there before so we used other fishing knowledge we had gathered. We had found a small snag and there was a school of baitfish on it, so we decided to fish there. We sat there for five minutes, I wound it in to check my bait and right at beach a massive flathead smacked it! Unfortunately, I lost that fish, however we found that every cast we caught flathead. We could see them stalking bait. We caught at least ten there and then we moved to where the boat was, threw out a rod and caught two monster dusky flathead and a small sandy. We had also caught a few nice bream that day. To top the day some big trevally almost beached themselves while chasing baitfish. I managed to hook one and it very quickly got off. It was fast and powerful, and my little longshank hook could only do so much.
Matt - Time spent setting them up to catch fish at a younger age, along with time spent setting up and packing up, means years and years of quality fishing days ahead. Don't get stressed when the kids want to play, colour, or draw if the bite is slow, because even a day on the water or at the islands is still a great way to spend time out of the house and together as a family. Also don't get upset when the young ones want to use your gear or save their tooth fairy and pocket money to upgrade their own gear. Use these days to teach them skills as well, such as reading tide charts, looking at weather charts and patterns, and all the things that are important to anglers. This effort will help the kids become good learners. Just don't tell them they are learning.
Cheers, Nick & Matt (Dad)