How to Get Youth Off the Couch and On the Water

To preserve fishing traditions and increase the well-being of our kids, it’s more important than ever to get youth off the couch and on the water! Dedicating some time away from social media and video games improves communication, strengthens relationships, and renews family bonds. What’s the best way to accomplish this Herculean feat? What can parents do to make fishing fun and engaging for our youth? Ultimately, how do we ensure that outdoor traditions endure for generations to come?

Make it Fun!

For children to enjoy the outdoors, we must make every experience as fun and enjoyable as possible! The whole point is for them to want to go, not feel like they must go to make us feel good. If it feels like your twisting arms or having to bribe youth to participate, you’re doing it wrong. When you do it right, they should lay awake at night, sleepless from anticipation and anxious about the opportunity to make their first cast and land their first fish. Remember the night before your first fishing trip and how you never thought it would arrive? What did it feel like when Mom or Dad patted you on the back or gave you hug after your first day on the water, swollen with pride over your patience and perseverance? These are the experiences and feelings that hooked me as a youngster and what continue to drive my love of the outdoors today.

To pass the love for fishing down to youth, we must first acknowledge that things are very different now than when we were kids. From a young age, youth are now bombarded with electronic stimulation, overwhelming convenience, and widespread entitlement. In my experience, taking a hard line on these things and trying to undo cultural norms on the water is a mistake. To be successful, parents and mentors must temper their personal intensity to avoid souring a fishing outing with kids. For example, you may define success as spending 10 hours on the water; trolling drop-offs, bumping holes, and drifting flats in pursuit of a trophy or limit of catfish. However, your kids’ definition might be very different; spending a few hours on the water, watching a bobber, and spending time talking to you about what’s going on in their lives. Ignoring what’s important to them, focusing only on fishing, and forcing them to conform to your style isn’t fun. Failing to acknowledge this and making every trip about you, instead of them, is the fastest way to make the outdoors a prison instead of paradise.

Make it Rewarding!

Every time we take youth outdoors there should be an award associated. Remember, we are fighting against formidable digital manipulation that is designed to provide instant gratification. The type of reward should be tailored to the individual child. For some, simply putting them on fish, no matter how big, and providing some fast action is reward enough. For others, letting them bring along their favorite toys, using their electronics for part of the trip, or bringing their favorite snack or treat is reward enough.

In my family, we rarely buy sugary soda or soft drinks for the house. However, for fishing outings, and especially those challenging days, we are happy to bend the rules. A couple boxes of Fiddle Faddle, Little Debbies, or your child’s favorite sweets, paired with an ice-cold soda to wash it down is just the ticket! The point isn’t to bribe them to go with you. Rather, rewarding them ensures that each trip is special; giving them something to look forward to whether you’re successful or not. At Whisker Seeker, we recognize the importance of recognizing the fishing achievements of young anglers. Please visit the Whisker Seeker Kids Club for more information, fun activities, and contests!

Don’t burn them out!  

You may like fishing in the cold and rain or trudging through deep snow to your favorite ice fishing destination, but many kids don’t! When introducing youth to fishing, mind the weather and make sure you’re prepared to call it a day early when conditions go south. Again, it is supposed to be fun, and being wet, cold, or sunburnt will discourage kids from wanting to go again.

My family suffers severe cabin fever and looks forward to open water every spring. That first trip in search of pre-spawn crappies, ravenous bluegills, and eager largemouths can’t arrive soon enough! However, sometimes it does come too soon, and cold temperatures and lethargic fish can spoil our best intentions. On the flipside, after a few spring outings, no matter how successful, even the most diehard kids can get bored. We must acknowledge that kids have a lot going on with friends, sports, and social lives. Forcing them to go fishing every weekend is the fastest way to turn their backs on the outdoors. This goes for wives and significant others as well…

The old saying goes, “…children are the future…” and this is just as true for fishing. This cherished tradition is critical to this nation’s identity and teaches our youth crucial life skills they can’t learn in the classroom. Youth that are encouraged to love the outdoors develop confidence, self-reliance, and discipline. Most importantly, they are responsible for passing the torch to the next generation. If we do it right, they’ll be able to catch, clean, and cook our supper too!