An opportunity to take a group of kids fishing every day for a week came through my email this summer. Excitedly, I accepted the offer and suddenly found myself wondering where to start. Fortunately, with some time spent in some pre-fishing planning and following these suggestions, you could easily be the ‘first-time’ fishing ambassador to your own group of students.

The initial debate going through my mind was should I teach technical aspects like knots, fish biology and lure selection or allow the kids to fish with minimal discussion right from the docks? I chose to skip the technical and get the students fishing right away. It was the right choice because most of the students had never fished before.

Keep The Gear Simple
The camp provided closed-faced reels, bobbers, and several dozen worms. I added barbless hooks to the mix to ensure quick release of any fish caught and for safety when hooks are being pushed around by newcomers. To maximize fishing time with these students (I had a new group every hour until noon), I pre-tied swivels and hooks and checked drag setting on the fishing rods before the kids arrived.

Closed-faced reels may not look ‘very-cool’ to anybody who watches the pro’s, but new anglers do not usually know that there are different kinds of options available. The simplicity of the push button to release the bail will allow students to drop their bait over the dock or experiment with casting.

Teach Respect (for others, the fish, and the hook)
Space is going to be required to spread excited new anglers out. For safety and courtesy reasons, remind the anglers to stay in the space they are given. This will be tested when someone starts hooking into a school of panfish. When this happens, remind those encroaching in on the ‘lucky spot’ to wait patiently until the angler moves on or gives permission. As well, take a moment to tell the lucky angler that it is OK to move on and allow someone else to experience the joy of catching a fish. They might find they get more satisfaction from watching – at least, I do.

Show the students the difference between a barbless hook and a barbed one. Stress the importance of the presence of a barb and how it relates to increased difficulty when removing from a person’s body or a fish’s. Remind new anglers to check behind them when they cast and I asked our students to shout, “Casting”, to warn anglers walking by them. For a graphic short video on the importance of hook safety – Watch This

Enforce to the rookie anglers the importance of a quick release and to handle this fish as little as possible. Show anglers, as fish are caught, where to hold fish to reduce injuries from teeth and or fins. Initially, most of the students wanted me to release their fish, this was a perfect opportunity to point identifying marks for fish identification.

-End of Part 1-