Kids Casting – Get Them Hooked And Have Some Fun
While the Belwood Lions Pike Derby proved to be a bust for Darrell and I on Sunday, our Saturday was spent on a grassy field with fellow members of the K-W Cambridge Bassmasters. We were at St. John’s-Kilmarnock (SJK) School’s 40th Anniversary BBQ, running a kids casting activity as part of the events for the day. Having taken part in other kids fishing days, I knew this event would be a lot of fun, provide lasting memories, and give us a chance to get some more children hooked on the sport of fishing.
Darrell’s doing his best to represent the K-W Cambridge Bassmasters in this picture.
The activity itself was very simple – kids were taught three different casts (flip, pitch, overhand cast), and were positioned at different spots to cast to a target. I was planning to help teach the kids, but the use of spincasters proved to be beyond my realm of capabilities. Having spent my entire fishing career using spinning reels and baitcasters, I just could not find the coordination to release that silly button at the right time. Instead, I untangled lines, offered encouragement, and tried to put rods into hands before kids could think about walking away. Luckily, after a quick practice session, we had several anglers that were able to help the kids.
While waiting for the day to get underway I discovered, once again, what a great group of characters are in this club. Since starting school I have been unable to attend meetings and have missed out on the laughs that always accompany them. Fortunately, there were plenty of laughs to go around on this day, and we quickly fell into a camaraderie that would make the day fly by.
Our first visitor of the day and our best customer. This guy kept coming back and made us smile every time. He loves fishing and decided club member Gord (crouching beside him) was his new best friend.
One thing about a kids event is that things never go according to plan. While the goal was to teach each kid the three different casts and have them cast to the target, the reality was that most of the kids just wanted to see how far they could cast. Us bass anglers are nothing if not adaptable, and we ended up with a two-pronged approach. If there was an available rod and room in the field to practice the long casts, we let the kids go at it. Most of the kids were happiest to do this, and with rubber weights on the end of the line, there wasn’t too much to worry safety-wise. However, some of the kids were eager to test their abilities and learn new skills. These kids are always the most fun for me to watch. With Darrell’s help, one young man went from holding the rod upside down and having no casting ability, to a kick-butt caster. He mastered every cast and made great strides with his accuracy. I really hope that day convinced him to go fishing in the future, because he really had an aptitude for it.
You have to watch the lines when you start getting more people involved… We also helped parents that wanted to learn about casting, or how to get their kids involved in fishing.
There were two girls that were absolute stars with a fishing rod. They made straight casts, could get a distance, and when convinced to try, they were pretty darn good with their accuracy. Of course, that comes as no surprise – girls are awesome anglers!
In between teaching casting and watching for haywire weights flying through the air, we filled the time with the usual bashing of each other’s fishing abilities, friendly casting competitions, discussions about almost everything under the sun and, as I said before, a lot of food. Heck, there was an ice cream truck there giving away free ice cream.
Before we all left for the day, there was one more matter to deal with. SJK had arranged for a photo booth to be on campus and we couldn’t resist getting some group photos.
It was a really neat day for me as a former SJK student. When our day was over I took Darrell for a walk and showed him the school I attended for my last couple years of high school. Since the yearbooks were on display, I took the opportunity to show him the picture of Argo that I got into the book for my graduating year. That’s right, everyone else had two photos of themselves with their remarks, but I had one of my horse.
It was a fantastic day with a great group of people, and another wonderful experience teaching kids how to cast. I only wish that we could have had some water and fish for them to cast to! I’m proud to be a member of a club that takes the time to help out at events like this. Congratulations to the organizing committee at SJK for a great event.
For more information on the K-W Cambridge Bassmasters, visit kwcbass.com.
argosgirl
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Rebecca, great job! It is always great when folks with some experience take the time to teach kids about fishing of any sort. Sounds like it was a busy day for you. Fish on, Kids!
Aww, thanks Mel! I really enjoy the kids fishing events, they’re so much fun. I hope they all had a good enough time that they’ll hit the water.