Several of my friends have asked me recently how they can get their kids more involved in fishing without fishing for 30 minutes and calling it quits. Many of them have young children 4-8 years old and cannot seem to keep them interested for more than a hour and they have to pack it all up and come back in. The amount of time it takes to get the boat ready and get to where they are going and to fish for such a short amount of time has many of them frustrated and at times they are not inclined to take their kids. They want their children to have fun and don’t want to run the risk of having them get bored and turned off on fishing at such a young age.
I grew up fishing with my dad and his friends many Saturday mornings and we spent a lot of time surf fishing. The combination of the beach and fishing made a great setting for a young boy who wanted to fish for a little while and then run and play. My dad was able to continue to fish and the whole experience for me was a fun one and I was eager to go back each time we went. As I grew older and began to catch fish, the time I spent fishing increased, but on the slow days there was still the opportunity to play and learn how to throw a cast net. I can remember several times my friends and I catching bait for my dad and his friends. We had a great time catching the bait and they had a good time feeding the fish with it.
Surf fishing is also a great way for the whole family to go together. Many Sunday afternoons our whole family would pack up the boat and head out to Morris Island for the day. We would fish, have lunch, and make a day of it. Everyone had a great time and it was simple low-stress fishing. Just yesterday my mom, dad, and brother Tim, headed out to Morris Island for a day of fishing and they all came back saying what a great time they had. It was relaxing and as a bonus they caught several nice fish. I look forward to taking my son, who is now 3 next spring. If you have a family and small kids that like to fish, don’t overlook the simplici