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Posts: 216
Location: Elk River, MN | The links that Steve have posted regarding taking kids fishing and getting them involved are awesome!! Thanks.
Being from NW Wisconsin we have some great bass / northern lakes to get the kids involved in the next "step up" fishing after the blue gills, perch and crappies.
But how do you gear up the 6,8,10 year olds when THEY want to go muskie fishing?
What rod (length, strength, etc - snoopy might not hold up), reel, and line would you recommend? Obviously there are great smaller baits to muskie fish with such as Mepps, etc for "hair" and other crank / topwater / plastic baits that these kids won't get sore throwing.
I would probably start with taking them out to fish muskie for 1/2, 1, or 2 hours and then switch to another species so they can catch something to maintain interest.
Kids that are excited about wanting to start muskie fishing due to watching all the videos at home alone side us; watching and looking at all our muskie baits while sharpening hooks, changing hooks or adding a twister tail to a bucktail.
I am really curious what equipment you used, what you recommend, or ideas of how to give them some gear taht won't wear them out, keep them interested, and will hold up when they do catch that first muskie? Unfortunately for me, Muskie fishing was an "adult sport" in my family growing up. I had to learn and start on my own after I was 20.
Edited by dhacker 3/9/2007 12:08 PM
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Posts: 786
Location: Minnesota | I have taken my nephew out starting when he was 10. I let him use one of my muskie rod/reel and it worked ok for him. The big thing I found was that he had a very hard time casting anything of size (6 inch and up or heavy lures). A small Believer worked great for him as did a Muskie Killer Mepps. For the bigger lures we trolled and of course that worked fine for him. Not sure about the 7-9 age range.... I would start with bass tackle and reline wiht some heavier line.
James | |
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Posts: 101
| I'm in the same boat here, my son just turned 9 today, and is looking forward to his first season fishing for musky. I've slowly been building him up on it since last summer. I started out with his old Zebco close-faced combo since it is a heavier rod, and spooled up some heavier line on it. Then by chance I got a small baitcaster reel from a friend. I think he did that on purpose so I would get him a better rod. Well we put some new line on there, and he's getting one of my old, shorter rods to go with it. Guys, if this doesn't give you an excuse to buy a new rod for yourself I don't know what will!
With respect to lures, I've been letting him get larger sized bass lures to get used to throwing them. He's got this all down from working on it last year. Now last week, he got an "early" birthday present from me. I took him to GM and let him pick out 5 musky lures to start out his "collection". It was hard trying to get him to buy smaller lures, but I kept reminding him that he will need to be able to cast them all day long. It's a big plus also when you tell him that you already "have" that lure, and will let him use it to try whenever he wants. He ended up getting smaller, springtime sized baits. I think this will let him get used to throwing them a little easier. Plus the main lake he will be fishing has alot of 30" sized fish, so lure size is usually small anyhow. Here's his short, starter lure list on his quest to become a musky addict. BTW he's been watching all the videos and tv shows for the last two years, has been out in the boat a dozen times with me before, and helped a friend release one he caught also. My boy is def. hooked on musky already, he just doesn't know it yet. :D
1-spring sized bulldawg
1-musky snacks minnowbait
1-cisco kid topwater
1-jig/tail spinnerbait
1- 6" jake
I tried to think of a few different types of fishing situations, and what types of bait I would be throwing at that time. I think he's covered as far as basic "types" of lures. I also let him pick out the colors of them, and then showed him what color I would pick out and let him make the deciding factor in which color to buy. Results were 50/50 in his choices, but I think it made him feel more involved, and that he was making "smart" decisions also.
Now he just has to get a fish in the boat this coming year and I'll be the happiest man alive for those few minutes!
~Dawg | |
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Posts: 37
Location: searchin for the first legal. | Whatever you do make sure you get quality equipment. Nothing ruins the day than junk that doesnt work. Hard to keep a youngster occupied with fishing if your fixin all of the time. Gander mountain has some fairly inexpensive rods and you can usually find a used muskie reel on the B-S-T board here. I started my boy out on a heavy bass outfit. He took to it like a fish to water. Not that we didn't have problems b ut you work through them. It was topwater until he got good at casting. Then after that it was shallowraiders andvarious minnowbaits. I think you could probably use 65 lb powerpro and a good leader and you should be good to go on tackle. Limit your fishing sessions to a few hours as its hard for little ones to fish any longer if they arenot catching anything. Be prepared to change a lot of baits . I know I did. It was Dad I don't like this lure let me try that one. and on and on.  At least now that he's 14 he can keep his bait on for A 1/2 hr before changing. and he can change his own.  This would be my equipment list
Ppfluegerechelon reel /65lb powerpro ( because of the thumbbar)
7' med action rod/good quality leader.
A small reel will be fine kids don't cast that far anyways .
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| My daughter could cast with a baitcaster on a 6'10" St Croix when she was 9. She could work a glider with no problem. I made sure that she had heavy lures for her to throw, and lures that were easy to work. I learned right away that she enjoyed it for about a half an hour, and when it became work she either grabbed and ultralight or a spinning rod with a crankbait or a jig. When I raised a fish, her interest returned.
At 10 she was a better caster and lasted a little longer. She likes to throw topwaters, and I'll let her throw them whenever she wants to. Her endurance is better.
Now at 11, she is coming to the Rhinelander outing, but wants to know if there are any "bobber fishing spots" up there. She'll have a bobber/ice jig rod set up, and an ultralight with small twistertails. I imagine that she will get more endurance when she has a fish try to rip the rod out of her hands.
She's tough and in better shape than me, but I'm not pushing her. She can do what she wants. Just having her in the boat makes it special. She always packs some "toy" and books and can jig fish as good as any grown up that I know.
The opportunity is there and so is the equipment. She'll let me know when she want to do more muskie fishing. | |
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Taking the kids fishing - part 2 - MUSKIE fishing.?.