Brad Laabs: Here's how to get today's kids hooked on fishing

I end up with many kids in the boat throughout the season. The last couple of weeks I seem to have had many young kids in the boat, even as young as 6 years old.

This has prompted me to write about a few considerations when it comes to fishing with young kids and getting them hooked on fishing. I had written before about my concerns with the declining number of young anglers. That does not seem to be as much the case anymore.

One of the benefits of the pandemic phase we have been through the last couple of years is an increased number of anglers, including increasing numbers of kids. Another great reason behind the increasing number of young anglers in our region has been the volunteers helping develop middle school and high school fishing programs.

The first order of business in getting kids into fishing as a lifelong healthy hobby, is to get them out. It doesn’t have to be in a boat. Catching fish from shore or a dock is still fishing and catching. Do not bring electronic devices with you as an alternative if kids get “bored” while fishing. They will get bored early so they can retreat to that electronic game and cell phone addiction.

I believe the electronic age, as wonderful as it is, is contributing to kids not getting out and being creative in the outdoors. If fishing in the boat, help introduce them to the sonar unit and GPS as that will help engage them in the process of locating fish, and adds to the experience.

Kids love to use the flashers and underwater cameras when ice fishing too. They are interactive and fit well into their world of electronic interaction.

Use quality rods and reels. Nothing turns anybody off to fishing like using equipment that doesn’t work well. When you get them on the water, find active biting fish. Sunfish, crappies, bass, and northern pike can be cooperative participants in getting kids hooked on fishing. If it bites and fights … it is fun.

It doesn’t even matter to many of them if it is a bullhead or a carp. Fishing is fun, but catching is even better when it comes to kids (and some inpatient adults).

Unfortunately, in this microwave, computer, smartphone world of ours, kids are more used to instant gratification. The years of sitting quietly in the boat with grandpa for hours for a few bites and a couple fish seem to be over for most of the new generation of youth. Learning patience will come later, after getting them hooked doing some catching first. Catching will get them coming back.

Make sure you have good proper gear for the kids. This includes good warm gear when needed, quality rain gear, proper footwear for the conditions, comfortable fitting life jackets, sunscreen, you get the idea. Getting wet and cold can turn off your potential lifelong fishing partner.

Make sure you have snacks and drinks in the boat. It is OK for kids to take a break and eat or play with the bait. Make sure you don’t overextend the time or keep them out in conditions that make them hesitate about going out again. Make challenging weather part of the adventure of the experience.

Teach them how to fish and cast with bobbers and jigs first. Learning to cast them will help them graduate to more complex casting or fishing techniques. Nobody gets sick of watching a bobber go down, or feeling the “tick” on a jig and setting the hook to find something on the other end.

Take pictures of caught fish, this fits into their world and can be texted to friends and family … or posted on Facebook. That is all part of their world now too.

Practice your patience with tangled lines – it is a part of learning in fishing, and teaching the skills to help prevent the tangles in the future are part of the process. In my experience, age is not a discriminator when it comes to the creativity of fishermen for getting tangled and snagged on everything possible! A great thing about getting kids out fishing is that it gets you out too!

(Laabs owns Brad Laabs Guide Service in Detroit Lakes)