Sometimes it is best to watch and learn

[Bait O' Eggs]

I had a small boy of about 11 or 12 give a smile this morning. Him and his dad came down to the river, and his dad started fishing right off.

The boy spent almost 20 minutes rigging up his pole on the bank behind me. He had about a 6 foot trout rod with a reel that was way oversized for the pole, and it looked like it had about 30 pound line on it.

When the kid got the rod rigged up he took up a spot on the bank about 30 feet above me and slightly behind me due to the bank shape. His first cast went over the top of me and splashed down below me. He felt real bad and walked down by me and apoligized for his inexperience and poor casting ability. We got out lines untangled and I saw he had about 10 inches of pencil lead and had it folded in half so it only looked to be about 5 inches long. He had the biggest red spin and glow I have ever seen above about a number 1 hook. I have never quite seen this set up with the folded over lead, and I was drifting with about 2 inches of pencil lead for this particular drift.

His second cast was up river and about 1/4 the way across the river. He was kind of plunking in a back eddie. He couldnt have been in more than about 3 feet of water, and I am sure I could have seen his plunked big red spin and glow from the bank if I had walked up and looked for it. I was considering going over and helping the boy fish, but was afraid I might offend his dad, who was off up the river not paying any attention to his kid.

About 30 seconds into the kids second cast, he has a fish on. It makes a big jump and does a couple cart wheels and gets off. :grin: :grin: The dad wasnt even around to see the smile on that boys face, and I decided I would just keep my mouth shut and try and learn a little from the boy. :shocked:

[Hoosier Daddy]

Hey BOE, were you by any chance launching a drift boat at Riverside the other morning? Saw a truck that looked a little like yours......

[FishinMission]

Naw...that wasn't BOE's truck...his is dirtier!

Hey Roy...I honk every time I go by your office. Are you jealous yet??

Mark

[Pilar]

Hey Roy, great story. He didn't know he was using the wrong method. At least Dad got him to the river, the rest took care of itself.

[Tanner]

Sounds to me like dad got stuck with the kid for the day and was more concerned about getting his fishing in.

Stuff like this bugs me. My kid is ten years old.
He can tie trilene knots and egg loops. He knows how to rig a shrimp and eggs on a bait diver. He definitely knows to let them eat the bait before setting the hook while bait diving or back bouncing. He can cast a level wind with pinpoint accuracy. All because I took the time to teach him. I'm not saying that I am the perfect dad because I'm not. Sometimes I get impatient with him (and feel bad afterwards).
There is no better way to turn a kid off of fishing than to not teach them the proper way to do it and then ignore them while you go off and do your own thing.
I'm sorry if this post offends anyone but it just bugs me when people treat kids like an inconvienience.

[moman]

With my 6 year old, I try to remember that he's not nearly as concerned with fish size, technique, and all of the other baggage I carry. I took him with me on a steelhead trip in Pennsylvania recently while visiting family. When I found a pool with samller trout in it, I tied on a dropper and he hooked into some 6-inch trout on my 8-wgt, one after another. Still talking about it. As my dad and I watched him casting from the bank recently, it was time for dinner, when I told him we needed to go home, he said, "just a few more casts, dad". My heart was full.