Take a kid fishing today, maybe you'll find a fluke blitz

[DarkSkies]

Pebbles and I did some scouting today, and were walking past this great bunch of young kids just learning to fish. Their Aunt Debbie decided to take them fishing today at Point Pleasant. :clapping:

They were all tangled up as we walked by. I told myself I would help them out for a few and move on. 4 hours later we were still there. :laugh:

We started out setting them up to fish for fluke, teaching them basic knot tying, telling them about the current, downsizing their hooks, etc. There was so much boat traffic I didn't have high hopes for them catching, but we figured we'd give it a shot just the same.

And these were very active, high energy kids. We were impressed at how Aunt Debbie handled them. :thumbsup: They really seemed to be a handful.

Fishing is one of the most powerful things I know to get a child's attention, and catching even more so. Today we were successful in both of those categories.

[DarkSkies]

With the exception of Charlie (7) almost snagging his brother's ear on his first cast, :eek: everything went smoothly.

They put their lines in the water, used fresh peruvian spearing and squid strips, and waited patiently.

Each time they would reel in, covered in seaweed, and re-bait. Each time I said a silent prayer: "Please God let one of these boys catch a fish!"

Finally, after about 1/2 hour, Charlie, the youngest, nails a fluke. Maybe 16", we take the pics and let him release it back into the water. :clapping:

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Then Chad, who is 8 years old, catches a fluke. We explained the regs to him, and he threw it back.

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Charlie (7) then catches another small fluke.

[DarkSkies]

Then our attention is diverted to Chas, who is 12.

5 minutes prior to this, he is feelin bad because his brothers caught fluke, and he didn't hook up yet. He starts yelling excitedly. We go to help him as his line is tight and pole bent almost in half. We figure the kid is stuck on bottom.

Then we see it......

2 fluke on one hook! If I wasn't right there when it happened, I never would have believed it. He pulled up a 5" fluke, and a 20+" fluke, that seemed to be stuck on the same hook!! :wow: :lookhappy:

As he excitedly pulled them in, both fluke got off.

He was kinda bummed, but as I explained to him the possible odds of something like that happening, he was grinning from ear to ear.

A small crowd was gathering to see how these 4 boys were catching these out-of-season keepers on such a high traffic day, and the kids were prouder than could be. So were I & Pebbles. :thumbsup:

[DarkSkies]

Then Charlie gets hooked up with another fish. By this time we were letting them use dual baited rigs. As he pulls in the fish, he also drags in an Abu baitcaster rod and reel setup that someone lost on the bottom not too long ago.

The gears were a little rough, but you could tell it had been down there only a short while, maybe a week? Hope someone in their town can take that reel apart and lube it up again. It would be a perfect baitcasting rod and reel combo for one of them.

Charlie with the Abu baitcaster and rod that he caught from the bottom.

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Simple rig for kids: Sinker on the bottom, loosely tied in case you need to break free from debris.
Gulp mullet 2" tied to a dropper hook 12" up.
Real bait, spearing and squid strip, up another 12".

This combo was deadly for the boys as is. As we were giving them instructions, I think the next one was "Whatever you dudes were doing, once you catch, just keep doing the same thing to catch the next fish."

By the time we left 4 hours later, they had caught and released 3 keepers, and a few more shorts. Chas even managed to catch a spider crab. Although many people would have considered the crab a nuisance, Chas was just excited about catching that crab as if he caught a monster fluke. I was proud of them and their efforts. :clapping::clapping:


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Chas with his keeper (released)

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[DarkSkies]

The oldest Jeff, 17, seemed to have a little more experience, so I decided he was gonna be the one to learn artificials. I explained that sometimes surfcasting is boring. You cast 100 times and get no results. Then you get fish on the 101st and 115th casts, and then nothing for another half hour. That's how it goes in inlet and surf fishin. :fishing:

He was still stoked, because the last time he was there caught a bluefish that was so big it broke his pole in half. :scared:

With that in mind, we reviewed current in an inlet, tides and good times to target fish, how to play a fish with the drag and in current, and basic bucktail, metal. shad, jig, bomber and small plugging techniques.

He was more patient. Cast after cast produced nothing for him. Meanwhile, he had this obsessed "drill sergeant dude" :laugh: who kept telling him to cast and try different techniques. I explained all the boat traffic would likely guarantee no fish on the artificials in the middle of the day. He kept at it, and I hope he learned enough to land a large if we ever get a chance to take him again.

Eventually, I told him to go bait up and catch some fluke like the other kids. I hope he did, but he got high marks for at least trying to use the artificials and not giving up. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

I tell ya, I was real proud of these kids. Couldn't have been more proud than if they were my own. The thing about taking kids fishing is that they don't look at any species as "trash fish". Anything they reel in at the end of their line is a bonus. Yet these kids somehow managed to do more than that yesterday. They caught 3 keeper sized fluke, and a few more, when others around weren't doing much.

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:clapping: To them for following instructions and paying enough attention to land the fish.

:clapping::clapping: To them for understanding enough about rules and regs so they could release and catch the fish again another day..


:clapping::clapping::clapping: To Aunt Debbie for having the love and initiative to put herself second, and take these kids from Perth Amboy out for a great time that they all had together.

Pebbles and I had a great time too! :HappyWave:

[Pebbles]

Dark and I had an incredible time with those boys. The way their faces lighted up on each hook up was wonderful. It was like we went to rent a kid for the day. It was nice hanging with smaller kids for the day. We had a great time.

Congrats on such nice catches guys - See you again sometime out on the beach.:HappyWave:

[Rickman]

Way to go. A gift that will keep on giving for many years to come.