June 26th, 2002

Over the past six months, my fishing habits have changed quite a bit to cater for our son Jack, who at three years of age, is showing encouraging signs of getting the 'fishing bug' that our family has passed down for generations.

Certain considerations have to be taken into account when a small child is aboard a fishing boat.

The thought of us in a tiny creek on the bottom of the tide in the middle of the day getting eaten by mosquitoes would send shivers down any mother's spine.

In my own short experience fishing with kids, I have normally found a way to adapt with the age of my new fishing partner with much ease. Instead of casting lures at snags for hours on end, we now troll lures later in the afternoon. I normally put a small lure on Jack's rod like a Reidy's Little Lucifer or a small Gold Bomber. The constant movement of the boat is enough to keep him occupied if the fishing is quiet.

If we go bait fishing, I go through the normal routine of catching the live bait and setting up the rods once we're anchored. Either a small rod or a little handline is fished with either prawns or Yabbies. Normally small Bream and Grunter keep him busy while the rest of the rods are set to tempt hopefully a Barra or a mangrove jack.

Kids love to drive around in boats and nothing fixes this better than running the Crab dillies. It's a great way to get them out of the house and the chance of catching a feed of Mudcrabs. Certainly beats watching the cartoons on a Saturday morning!

So fishing with kids is really not that hard, you've just got to change the way things are done. Trust me, it doesn't effect the amount or the quality of fish that you would normally catch if you were on your own.

Glenn Campbell
Northern Angler