Summer School Holiday Fishing with the Kids

With the school holidays around the corner there’s never been a better time to get the kids out fishing and there’s many reasons why they will enjoy the experience, most important of all - it’s a lot of fun!

Fishing is also a great educational activity – a chance to learn about the environment we live in and the amazing creatures, big and small we share the great British countryside with. As we all know fishing also takes you to amazing places you probably would never see if you weren’t carrying a fishing rod.

The good news for parents is it needn’t be an expensive hobby either. We have a range of fly and lure fishing starter kits at great prices, perfect for children and beginners. They come rigged up and ready to go – you just need to add a few bits and pieces and you will be set to go. The staff in any of our stores will be pleased to help and advise you on the best tackle for the exact location you are planning to visit - find your nearest store & give us a call.

Here are a few ideas of where to go and what to take:

At the seaside

Piers and harbour walls offer a range of easy fishing options for youngsters, generally there is no need to cast any distance as fish will be drawn to the structure you are fishing from. Small fish will find shelter from currents and food in the weed and rocks at the base of harbour walls. This in turn will attract larger predatory fish. The perfect tackle for this our saltwater ready to go kit or something from the Savage or Snowbee LRF range. Match this with a Savage dropshot kit, a few spinners, some small weights and float fishing tackle and you will have all the tackle needed to fish for small pollock, bass, mackerel, garfish, mullet, wrasse, pouting plus a range of other mini species as well.

On the canal

Canals offer great, easily accessible fishing for a range of coarse fish possibly right on your doorstep. Perch are the perfect canal species for youngsters to target, they will take anything from worms and maggots to small lures and spinners. They are voracious feeders and once you have found a shoal you can expect the action to be fast and furious. Again, LRF tackle is ideal and very easy for youngsters to quickly gain confidence with.

JT spends the day with Jay Bartlett and his kids, Alex and Zack, fly fishing at Manningford Trout Fishery. All super keen anglers and regulars at the Sportfish Game Fishing Centre, the family talk about their love of fishing, their favourite memories and why Jay never says no to a request to them going fishing. Jay also reflects on his own angling career and why he feels it’s so important to introduce more kids into the sport.

Tight lines and we hope you enjoy it!

Stilwaters

Many anglers start their fishing careers on stillwaters catching stocked trout, usually rainbow and blue trout. Many of these ‘put and take’ waters such as the Sportfish Game Fishing Centre offer adult and child tickets or shorter two-three hour fishing session tickets which offer the opportunity to give kids the chance to give it a try and catch a fish.

On a small river

Many small rivers will be home to trout, grayling, chub and dace. All of these species are great to catch on a fly and the perfect introduction to this is with the recently introduced Japanese Tenkara fishing method. Although this is a delicate and authentic fly fishing technique there is no reel or flyline so the casting is very easy to learn. The tackle requirements are basic too, so it is also inexpensive to get started with, yet still an effective fish catching system.

So regardless of whether you are taking a vacation or a staycation this year use it to get your kids fishing this summer!