CG RYAN Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Years ago I used to fish hardcore with a couple buddies. Every weekend was long hours, little food, and lots of casts. Now I almost always have my wife and 3 kids on board so I spend a lot of time doing things other than fishing when on the boat. I am extremely lucky that everyone loves being on the boat as much as me. We typically go out 2-3 times a week and although my fish slaying days are limited now, I wouldn't want it any other way. Fishing was slow today which as many of you know can become very boring for youngsters on the boat. I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve for these kinds of days and I was wondering what types of things others do to keep everyone having fun. Today's events consisted of a sand trout "tournament", baby catfish "tournament", and smallest redfish "tournament". During the summer the freshwater washdown is great for kids and comes in handy when they want to use the deck as a slip-n-slide (yes they actually do). I have learned that boating/fishing is like anything else with kids, you cant force it. Some days they don't want to fish, they want to bring a book or play in the livewell and other days they will grind it out all day with dad. Id like to hear what others do as well. Tight lines guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 I have learned, go the sandbar or swimming location first, get the fun outta the way and burn off the excitement. Fishing for my 6 year old is always second on the list to swimming and digging in the sand. He will spend much more time fishing if he is able to swim and play first. If we try to fish first, all I keep hearing is, "when are we going swimming". Even though I know the fishing is better earlier before swimming time, its just the way it has to be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMB MEGALOPS Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 42 minutes ago, hurricane said: I have learned, go the sandbar or swimming location first, get the fun outta the way and burn off the excitement. Fishing for my 6 year old is always second on the list to swimming and digging in the sand. He will spend much more time fishing if he is able to swim and play first. If we try to fish first, all I keep hearing is, "when are we going swimming". Even though I know the fishing is better earlier before swimming time, its just the way it has to be! Yep yep and yep!. I've got 3 boys under 6 and they're like dogs in the morning. You've got to run/swim them and feed them and then they become human again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justdriftin Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Used to be I could survive a day (and I mean full day, sunup to sundown) fishing with a pack of peanut butter crackers and the proper mix of water and Miller Lite. Now I spend as much time packing snacks as tackle. But that's a must to keep them fed. Depending on where we are, if there is a waterfront joint to stop in and eat, we'll try to plan that around a slack tide. I can usually stretch the day out a bit if we can do something like that. Second on the swimming. If can find a spot where there is a sandbar with a flat or something nearby that usually works out well. I'll let the kids play on the shallow side of the boat and I can still get a little fishing in at the same time. My brother and I will go and I have 3 that are old enough and he has 1, so we kind of tag team watching them while the other gets a little fishing in. Maybe I should try the swimming first as well, always figure I'll never get them back in the boat to fish but its worth a shot. At least you are going every week, that's a feat with that many kids. My youngest is still too small to spend any significant time on the boat so makes it difficult if I have to leave the wife at home with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 All of the above, but by far the most effective for me is letting my little guy raid my tackle box. He will spend hours digging through it and exploring. His mission though is to find soft plastics that will stick to my console and slowly roll down. Once found, he then occupies himself for hours "racing" them down the side of the console. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.