| Kids and fishing is a topic I don’t know a lot about, mainly because I don’t have kids. I can, however, remember what it was like for me as a kid when my dad took me fishing. As long as there was action, I was interested. As soon as the action stopped—or if it never started—I got bored. Worst of all was when he insisted I paddle him around the edges of the lake so he could fly cast. I was bored senseless and couldn’t stay focused on my job. “You’re too close” was sure to be followed a few minutes later by “You’re getting too far away” as my mind and our boat drifted aimlessly. And when I’ve had occasion to take friends’ kids on a fishing trip, I’ve noticed that as long as there’s action, they’re fine. When nothing is biting, boy do they get bored.
My experience taking kids fishing (actually, my lack of it) prompted me recently to take advantage of a chance to chat with Suzanne Taskowitz, who with her husband John runs Suzanne, a charter boat operating out Whale Harbor on Islamorada, one of the Florida Keys.
Suzanne and John specifically promote family fishing trips and have developed the art and science of taking kids fishing. I asked her to give me some tips that would help parents and grandparents make the most of a deep-sea fishing trip with kids.
First, ask yourself if the kids are really old enough to enjoy a fishing trip. John and Suzanne set a minimum age of five for passengers on their boat and, surprisingly, Suzanne said age seven is the optimal time to introduce a child to offshore fishing. I would have pegged at about 10, but she says younger kids are curious and want to know how everything works. That keeps them from getting bored.
Before selecting a charter operation to haul you and the kids offshore, check out the charter boat to see if it is “kid friendly.” The Taskowitz’s boat is a 31-foot Gulfstream with twin diesels. It has a beam of 12 feet, which is pretty wide for a 31-foot boat, but the big cockpit gives kids plenty of room to move around. More importantly, the boat is outfitted with a dinette where kids can sit to do puzzles, read, or otherwise occupy their time during the run out and back (and maybe even nap if it’s been a rigorous day). With lots of padded surfaces, there’s little danger of kids losing their balance and falling against something hard.
I would have thought that trips with kids would go to the closest reefs, both to minimize running time and to maximize the number of fish that could be caught. The close-in reefs in the Keys abound with small snapper and other reef fish that are easy to catch. But unless the adults on the trip indicate otherwise, John makes no concessions to age when he sets out on a fishing trip. If it’s dolphin season, then the Suzanne goes fishing for dolphin, even though that means long runs and fewer fish.
On balance, Suzanne said, kids would rather catch a big fish than lots of little ones. While the gear can be hefty for a kid, the Suzanne employs a mate who’s always standing by to give a hand if needed.
Kids ask a lot of questions and it takes some patience to deal with them. But explaining about the rods and reels, the bait, the techniques and the boat is something that Capt. John never gets tired of doing. John will even older kids up to the tower with him to let them steer the boat when the action is slow.
Do kids have more of a tendency to get seasick than adults? Not according to John and Suzanne. Kids handle the motion just as well as their parents. “If you’re going to get sick it doesn’t matter how old you are,” says John. The only exception is when the adults may have had one too many the night before.
I came away from my conversation with Suzanne convinced that with the right crew and the right boat taking even young kids on an offshore fishing trip is completely doable. Just do your homework first to make sure captain, crew and boat are compatible with young anglers. |
