Trying To Learn How To Fish

[FishinCricket]

Welcome to the forum and my condolences go out to you. Sounds like your kids are lucky to have a great mom.

You've come to the right place to get info on fishing. The folks here are very friendly and willing to help with anything they can. If I were you, I'd take Chief up on his offer and let him take you and the kids out a couple times. He's a good guy and if anyone can teach you to fish around your neck of the woods, it's him. It won't take long to figure out the basics and start catching fish so you can take your kids out on your own. It's only as complicated as you want it to be!

In the meantime, ask all the questions you want. Everyone here had to learn to fish at some point, and somebody probably taught them!

Eric is spot on, and allow me to add my agreement to his opinion.

Welcome to the forum and the wide world of lure fishing, you are doing your boys a great service and honoroing the memory of their father in the best way possible...

I am in Lebanon (near bennett springs state park) and would be happy to assist in any way I can.

Could you tell us what type of fishing the boys have stated that they prefer? (specific species or style of fishing?)

[Wayne SW/MO]

Roaring River could be a good place for you, its family friendly. It would offer the kids a chance to wander some, avoiding being tied to a spot. There are others, but this might be one to consider.

The shops in the area and the park store can offer help, not to mention there are often people on the stream who will help.

[Phil Lilley]

Sam still has a short attention span. When I took him perch jerking he fished a while, then played with the worms, then fished for a while. He had a great time though and he did catch 2 little blue gills.

My kids did basically the same thing only my daughter enjoyed blowing up worms... that's injecting them with air using a needle. She is 25 now and still loves to fish and blow up worms.

Trout fishing is pretty simple, almost as simple as perch jerking. If you're close enough to Branson, take a day trip and drop by our shop here at Lilleys' Landing and we can fix you up to fish off our dock. But then there's always the playground

[Jabber Jaw]

Hey we are in the same neck of the woods! I have a son Dylan, 11, and a daughter Sierra 9. Dylan and I go fishing dang near every weekend and we both would consider it an honor to help you out.

We do a lot of wade fishing as well as float fishing. We have plently of room for you and your boys to come along.

I was born and raised in this corner of the state and fished ever puddle that held water. Dylan isn't far behind me now. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. You can either ask here or send a PM.

Hi Chief Grey Bear,

Thanks so much for the offer! I haven't had my job very long so I have to work at least part of every weekend. Hopefully I won't be the newby too long and will get better schedules soon. I'm not really complaining, I think I am really lucky just to have a job.

The thing that has me really baffled is all the different colors of the fake worms and how do you know which color to use? When I was packing everything up to move, there were packages upon packages of them! The worms alone filled a medium tote. Most of the packages say Yum, but they just don't look that tasty to me! Do you put them on the hook the same way as you do real worms? And what about the rubber frogs and lizards?

Jabber Jaw

[Jabber Jaw]

I wouldn't worry about that, it will inflate our egos a little. Some may comment negatively, but that won't be a reflection of the vast majority on the board.

If you were to feel comfortable posting a county, or a region, it would help for the members to direct you to good sources. At any rate feel free to ask away without any feelings of bothering anyone.

Hi Wayne,

So far everyone has been really kind, but there are always a few in every group of people that can be testy. I will try my best to avoid upsetting anyone. Maybe if I don't hijack anyone else's thread with my questions and just start my own thread for "Fishing 101" I can avoid causing any problems.

Jabber Jaw

[Jabber Jaw]

My kids did basically the same thing only my daughter enjoyed blowing up worms... that's injecting them with air using a needle. She is 25 now and still loves to fish and blow up worms.

Trout fishing is pretty simple, almost as simple as perch jerking. If you're close enough to Branson, take a day trip and drop by our shop here at Lilleys' Landing and we can fix you up to fish off our dock. But then there's always the playground

Sam named all of the worms. He is convinced he taught Joe to roll over. He's a funny little guy (Sam, not Joe). Blowing up worms? I bet that has some serious splatter to it. Branson isn't too far from me, it would be a doable day trip.

Jabber Jaw

[Jabber Jaw]

Welcome to the forum and my condolences go out to you. Sounds like your kids are lucky to have a great mom.

You've come to the right place to get info on fishing. The folks here are very friendly and willing to help with anything they can. If I were you, I'd take Chief up on his offer and let him take you and the kids out a couple times. He's a good guy and if anyone can teach you to fish around your neck of the woods, it's him. It won't take long to figure out the basics and start catching fish so you can take your kids out on your own. It's only as complicated as you want it to be!

In the meantime, ask all the questions you want. Everyone here had to learn to fish at some point, and somebody probably taught them!

Hi Eric,

Thank you. I don't know how great of a Mom I am, only time will tell, but I am trying to do the best that I can for the boys. I don't want Max and Sam to feel like they were totally cheated out of everything because of what happened to their Dad. They've paid a big enough price already.

I think I will be able to learn a lot from the people here. I read through some of the posts in the other threads and everyone seems to know a lot about fishing for just about everything.

I already got my fishing license and Sam didn't need one, but at what age will they need one? When I was getting my license, the guy asked if I wanted a trout stamp I didn't really understand the whole process, so I said no. What would happen if I accidentally caught a trout? Would I get a ticket? I'm not even sure I would know the difference between a trout and any other type of fish unless it was already cooked. I've got a lot to learn!

[Jabber Jaw]

Eric is spot on, and allow me to add my agreement to his opinion.

Welcome to the forum and the wide world of lure fishing, you are doing your boys a great service and honoroing the memory of their father in the best way possible...

I am in Lebanon (near bennett springs state park) and would be happy to assist in any way I can.

Could you tell us what type of fishing the boys have stated that they prefer? (specific species or style of fishing?)

Thanks FishinCricket. Max's dream is to someday catch a lunker, so...bass. Sam just wants to go fishing, period. Max aims high and Sam is pretty laid back.

[Wayne SW/MO]

The plastic worms are probably over their heads and you probably need to distract them from their use at their age. The trout stamp is only needed in areas where there are trout, the exception is the trout parks where you buy a daily tag.

I suspect that given their ages someplace like Lilley's or Roaring river might be a big help in converting them away from "Big Boy's" lure to something more manageable. there's nothing like seeing someone else catching fish to convert youngsters to what ever is working.

[eric1978]

The thing that has me really baffled is all the different colors of the fake worms and how do you know which color to use? When I was packing everything up to move, there were packages upon packages of them! The worms alone filled a medium tote. Most of the packages say Yum, but they just don't look that tasty to me! Do you put them on the hook the same way as you do real worms? And what about the rubber frogs and lizards?

Jabber Jaw

Hey JJ, here's a little info on how to set up a Texas-rigged plastic worm, which is by far the most common way to hook it. Wayne is right, though, it does take a little practice to learn to use this bait, and you'd probably be better off starting off using some of the lures I will show you below. Keep in mind that a couple of these are strictly bass lures, although a few of them will catch trout, too. Oh, and the colors of the worms...a lot of times it doesn't really matter, especially during the summer when fish are more active...we'll talk about that later.

It's tough to see in the picture, but there is what's called a slip-sinker on the line above the hook.

Texas rigging steps

1 – Place hook in worm: I like to position the hook in a little bit deeper than the length of the neck of the hook. Usually on a 2/0 VMC, that depth is about 1/8-inch deep before I turn it out through the bottom of the plastic.

2 – Thread the hook through the worm: Carefully slide the length of the hook through the hole you have created in the plastic until it looks like the second picture. The eye of the hook can be inside the plastic a little or it can be out. This variation can be determined by your preference or that of the fish.

3 – Insert hook into plastic again: Leave the point buried in the plastic for a pure Texas rig or pop it out for a “Texposed” set up. If there’s a bend in the worm, that’s ok, it may provide added triggering action.

4 – “Texpose” the hook: When fishing sparse cover, Texpose the hook by pushing the point all the way through the plastic. Then pierce the point into the underlying plastic to prevent vegetation from accumulating on the lure. Just remember, if the hook point is not out of the plastic, you will have to set the hook harder to penetrate both the plastic and the mouth of the fish.

5 – Add a weight: Attaching a bullet sinker of varying size at the front of your offering will help you deliver your snag-proof, fish-catching composition to any depth and at any rate of fall.

There's endless amounts of this kind of info on the internet, can't remember where I just found this.

Here are some lures that would be easy for you and your kids to start with...you just cast them out and reel them back in...

Rooster Tail (Bass and Trout)

Maribou Jig (Bass and Trout)

Floating Rapala Minnow (Bass and Trout)

Spinnerbait (Bass only)

The Texas-rigged plastic worm above is also a bass lure. These are just a few of the thousands of lures you can use, but they are pretty standard starting lures and a lot of guys keep using them year after year.

It would help to know what kind of reels and tackle you have.

This is a spinning reel:

This is a spincast reel:

This is a baitcasting reel:

Also, if you have a camera, you could take a few pictures of what's in the tackle boxes, and that would be helpful, too. It sounds like you won't have to spend any money...If we just knew what you had, we could tell you what would be the easiest to use and how to use it. Sounds like you have quite a bit of tackle to choose from.