Young educated thumbs

[mark poulson]

I boated for a teen tournament Sunday, and I got to take out two young men, one 17 and one 13 years old.
They hadn't fished the Delta too much, and both came with reels spooled with 15lb fluoro. The early bite was chatterbaits in the edges of the tules, and they had trouble because they didn't have braid.
I loaned one of my braid/chatterbait setups to the 13 year old. I use reels with centrifugal brakes, and I warned him that the reel was set up really loosely, but he said he liked baitcasters set that way.
Boy, did he ever! He threw that thing like a pro, no backlashes, even though my brakes were almost off, and the spool tension was loose, too.
Both kids had no problems throwing baitcasters, and thumbing the reels as needed.
Being able to thumb a baitcaster let them use all of my stuff that was set up for the Delta, and they caught lots of fish.
The younger put three of his keepers in the boat throwing my homemade whopper plopper. After the first fish on it, he said he was so jazzed he didn't care if he didn't catch another fish. But, of course, he did, and they both fished hard, switching tactics as needed and grinding all day.
It's great to see kids who can fish. Obviously someone has taken a lot of time with them, and it showed.

[hoohoorjoo]

Good for you, Mark! There is far too little of what you did going on today. It's a sport, sure, but it could feed you in an emergency situation. While those 2 sound like they are being taught well, most kids today have little to no concept of how food actually gets to their tray at McDonald's. The outdoor sports are losing participants every year. I see almost no one my age with kids teaching them how to hunt and fish anymore, and I live in the Deep South. It gives kids a sense of responsibility and stewardship towards our natural resources-water, trees, land and animals. We should all find someone to mentor like that imho. I take my kids and other peoples' kids hunting ,fishing and shooting whenever I can.

[new2BC4bass]

The young learn much easier and quicker. Us oldies that picked up our first baitcast reel in our 60s will most likely never be as good as a teenager that is truly interested in learning how to use a baitcast reel. I'm glad to hear there are still some youngsters willing to put their electronic toys away long enough to spend time outside. I only wish my two oldest grandsons were more like those two young men. My youngest is very interested in fishing with me, but he just turned 5.

[toddmc]

The south is really full of kids that want to fish. It's amazing how many teenagers have their own boat in Texas. It seems like every other house has a bass boat. My brother in Dallas tells me that many of the kids in his neighborhood want to be bass pros. Many of the teenagers have tons of experience, and give an intelligent interview on TV during the high school and college events. I had to wait until I was 18 to join a club in California. I'm jealous.

[btoups]

Great job.

[Hulkster]

baitcasting is way easier than people think. all it takes is to have your particular reel adjusted properly.

I learned to use a baitcasting reel in my teens also. I spent a lot of time on my street practicing with a rattlin rapala with the hooks removed as my 'practice plug'.

practice practice practice and anyone can get the hang of it.

[mark poulson]

baitcasting is way easier than people think. all it takes is to have your particular reel adjusted properly.

I learned to use a baitcasting reel in my teens also. I spent a lot of time on my street practicing with a rattlin rapala with the hooks removed as my 'practice plug'.

practice practice practice and anyone can get the hang of it.

That is true. It probably holds for just about anything in life you want to master.
I was just amazed when that 13 year old picked my low brake, no spool tension baitcaster and threw it all day without back lashing.

[jjbassnforfun]

That's awesome!!

[bpettus2]

Very cool this is exactly what kids need to do

[domthewon]

Fishing the delta will make you a better angler everywhere else you fish and it’s my personal favorite place to fish. Thanks for helping out the future of the sport taking the young studs out.
Dom

[mark poulson]

Fishing the delta will make you a better angler everywhere else you fish and it’s my personal favorite place to fish. Thanks for helping out the future of the sport taking the young studs out.
Dom

I'm sure everyone here knows I got more out of it than the kids. They were such fun to be around. It was great to see their enthusiasm, and passion for fishing. Plus they were great kids, who had fished together before, and who share the front and the trolling motor like a team, even though it wasn't shared weight. The 17 year old treated the 13 year old as a partner, and an equal, and that showed me their parents did something right.