Trophy Trout Fishing with your kids
My love for fishing started with my father and I spending days on the bank casting spinners into the water and waiting for the fish to bite. I always looked forward to our fishing trips and remember one time in the sixth grade when I heard over the intercom, “Mr. Howell, please send Brad Stout to the office.” I knew I had been caught doing something wrong, but what? It could have been anything, from teasing girls on the playground to my last BB gun adventure. To my horror, my father was waiting when I walked into the office! But dad had made plans with the school to have me excused for the day. Walking back to his truck, I asked him if we were going to the dentist. Nope, he replied, pointing to the fishing gear in the back of the truck. After we arrived at the lake, I made a few casts and hooked and landed my first 10-pound German Brown. This trip started my trophy trout addiction.
Fast-forward some 25 years. Now it’s my turn to give my kids the gift of fishing. But I have one major problem: I’m a trophy trout fisherman who catches one or two big trout per trip. At times I fish lures bigger than a 10-inch planter rainbow trout. Friends fishing from my boat have asked me if they could downsize their lures just so they could catch something. And everyone I’ve talked to about fishing with kids says to just catch lots of fish and the kids will have fun. But truthfully, I wouldn’t even know how to consistently catch planted rainbow trout. I would have to give up everything I have learned about trophy trout fishing in order to get my two little girls interested in the sport I love. After a lot of thinking, I devised a plan to get my kids into trophy trout fishing.
First I had to keep my girls entertained long enough to catch a fish. I started by renaming “going fishing” with “going for a boat ride.” Fishing implies we are going to catch fish, but by setting the bar low I took the pressure off the trip — and kids love boat rides. I might as well have told them we were going to Disneyland. Before the trip, we spent several days shopping for bathing suits, life jackets, sunscreen and fishing gear. I bought my girls a pink Barbie tackle box and filled it with every trophy trout lure I could find — hooks removed, of course.
I knew we would never land a 30-pound trout on a Barbie rod, so I had to come up with a plan. Graphite rods are either super fast or extra sensitive — and in the hands of a child that just means super expensive and it will break extra fast. I needed a rod that could take the abuse of getting banged against the gunnels yet would keep a good bend when fighting a trophy fish. The rod needed to act like a big shock absorber and pick up any slack line. I chose a low-cost 8-foot, 6-inch all-fiberglass rod by Eagle Claw (model 407). Serious fishermen would laugh at this limp-noodle rod, but it was just what my kids needed. But an 8-foot, 6-inch rod for a 3-foot kid also required a deep-sea fighting belt. It may sound crazy, but it works. I use an Abu Garcia 5601ca reel with the drag set super tight and spool it with 50-pound braid tied to 14- to 20-pound leader. I like 50-pound braid because it holds in the downrigger clip better than a thinner 20-pound braid. With the high speed Abu 5601 reel, every time the handle makes a full rotation it brings in 30 inches of line. The goal is to net the fish as soon as possible instead of having one tired out kid who thinks reeling in fish is work rather than fun.
Next came training time. Just like athletes train for sports, my girls also trained in order to have a chance of landing a trout as long as they are tall. I wanted to make sure my girls could hold the rod and reel in line at the same time. One nice windy day I strapped on a deep-sea fighting belt to my oldest daughter, 8-year-old Katie, and handed her the rod with a kite tied to the line. She let out line and reeled it back in over and over, and with each gust of wind the rod loaded up just like fighting a big fish.
Katie had so much fun that to this day we still fly kites with fishing gear. At home, in order to work on pumping the rod and reeling in slack line, we hooked up a tricycle to the fishing rod. Katie slowly pulled the rod back and moved the bike about three feet. When the rod was maxed out I would chant “reel, reel, reel as fast as you can,” and we would laugh as the bike slowly slid across the backyard. It didn’t Katie long to master the art of backyard monster pulls. My young Jedi training was now complete.
Since safety is the most important thing in a boat, I made sure the boat was kid friendly — my scattered lures and hooks had been put away. My girls toured my 18-foot Alumaweld boat, and we set up safe zones at high speeds, which limits them to their seats. At low speeds the safe zone opens up from the windshield to a line taped on the floor near the back of the boat. I have a first-aid box ready for any emergency (never under estimate the healing power of a Band-Aid teamed up with a lollipop). I even have a porta-potty on board. And no, my friends are not allowed to use it. Sunscreen, bug spray and life jackets all are put on in the parking lot.
I fish for trophy trout year-round in all types of weather, but summer is my favorite time to fish with my kids. Our day starts around 8 a.m. and we split the day up into a several fun events. First we take a high-speed run around the lake and conveniently end up at my favorite fishing spot. After slowing down to trolling speed and getting the lines in the water, we play games like I Spy and just check out the nature. We take breaks so I can check the lines and change lures. Next comes story time. We pop in a CD audio book and enjoy a Disney offering as we troll along. We also bring a Ipad loaded with movies and Nintendo DS, but I limit time spent with electronic games to just over one hour or the playing time of a movie. Portable electronics in the boat are not baby sitters, but they do add some familiarity to the kids’ day. I want my kids to enjoy the feeling of being outdoors, the smell of fresh air and the sound of the waves slapping the boat, and not the chirps and squawks of handheld video games.
By this time we have been in the boat for about three to four hours, and the kids and I have had fun with our activities. We also have made several trolling runs and maybe even caught a trophy trout. By noon my kids are ready to hit the shore. For the next few hours we swim, eat lunch and explore the beach for lost treasures like rusted lures, bobbers and cans. I apply more sunscreen as they get in and out of the water. After a while, we get back in the boat and troll back to the boat ramp to end the day’s adventure.
We have been very lucky with our pursuit of trophy trout. Both of my kids are current I.G.F.A Junior World record holder ( kids under 16 years of age) . Katie’s fish is held under lake trout and Ashley’s is under Lahontan cutthroat trout. Over the last few years my kids have grown to love fishing. I successfully planted the seed of a love of fishing, and I hope it continues to grow for years to come. Even if they stop fishing in their adult lives we made a lifetime of irreplaceable memories.
Brad Stout
