Bringing fishing to the next generation
Put a fishing rod in the hands of any kid and watch what happens. They all immediately want to cast the lure out 500 feet. They usually grab the rod tightly, lean way back and OOOMMMPPPHHH. In response to the WWF-style cast, the lure goes chaotically away.
While the child is having a great time flinging lures around, most adults look on in horror as they duck from hooks, bobbers and weights. But this danger can easily be corrected with the right training approach. That approach requires one key element: patience.
Cool heads prevail
There are two big mistakes many adults make when teaching youngsters. The first is yelling. Nobody – young or old – likes to get yelled at. The victim’s defense mechanism is to tune out the loud mouth. Another common mistake is trying to teach too many things at the same time. Pushing the child too fast often creates frustration and, in severe cases, causes the child to lose interest in fishing.
Yelling is a sign that you, the teacher, are getting frustrated. Raising your voice is only a natural – and controllable – response to your feelings. To avoid that problem, keep your instruction times short. Five to 10 minutes is about all you need. Remember, if you try, you can coast through a few minutes of aggravation without raising your voice.
Keep your casting lessons simple. Don’t try to teach more than one style of cast during the lesson. And stay with that same casting method until your student has it down pat. Adding too many variables only confuses the student. You might think that it will take years before your student learns all the different casting methods, like pitching, flipping and skipping. Well, you are right. It does take years. But that is quite all right. Just teach casting slowly and correctly.
Another way to prevent frustration for both you and your student is to make casting a game. Fishing is fun. Your lessons should be, too. Always put targets out so the child can cast at something. Change the targets for each lesson to avoid boredom. Then, make a big deal out of it when the lure reaches the target.
Here is a good game to play. Most kids like to shoot at soda cans with a BB gun. They can also hit cans with a casting plug. Set out a series of soda cans on a board about 20 feet away. Have your student try to knock the cans off the board one at a time. Feel free to join in. You’ll be surprised how many adults can’t knock the cans off the board!
Always try to do your casting lessons at home in the backyard. Never give a casting lesson at the lake. When children get to the water, all they want to do is fish. They won’t pay attention to your casting instructions. But if they did their casting homework before hand, their ability to catch fish will be greatly improved and your on-the-water enjoyment will increase.
Casting straight
The first cast a child needs to learn is the basic overhead cast. Once the youngster masters that motion, all the other casting styles from flipping to fly-casting will come easier. But what I have discovered through the years is that children have a great deal of difficulty casting overhead.
Children often have a distorted view of casting. They are usually more familiar with swinging baseball bats, tennis rackets, hockey sticks and other team sporting equipment. This swinging action often carries over to their first casting experience. They almost instinctively try to cast as if they were swinging ball bats. Your first objective is to break that habit.
One of the best ways to teach a straight overhead cast is to use a “guide.” I learned this little trick quite by accident. Having a background in dog obedience training, I often taught dogs to heel by walking them along a wall to keep the critter straight by my side. After a while, the dog learns to walk straight and I can then move away from the wall.
I took this idea to the fishing classroom. When I run into a child with overhead casting problems, I stand the youngster along side a wall or fence. Now when the youngster has the urge to cast sideways, he or she can’t. Their only option is to cast overhead. After a while, the young caster learns to keep the arm and rod straight overhead.
This type of casting practice will take about a week to master. Once the child has the overhead concept down, go for accuracy and distance in that order. On your fishing expeditions, stay with the overhead cast for quite some time before you start the other casts. Build up the youngster’s confidence about casting accurately to areas where the fish are biting.
In the next installment of Bass Class, we will discuss how to teach children to tie fishing knots.
Frank McKane Jr. is a nationally known outdoor writer with over 4,000 magazine and newspaper pieces published during his 12-year career. He caught his first fish at 6 months of age and, ever since, has studied the ways of the outdoorsman. With a degree in environmental chemistry, he is dedicated to protecting the environment and promoting outdoor sports for children and adults.