Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Craig on May 15, 2013, 05:39:18 PM
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My 10 year old daughter wants to learn to fish so we are trying to learn. We went to gofishbc's class for kids. Then I went to a few garage sales and bought a couple rods.
One rod is NGAGE 5'6" medium action, 6-12 LB. Lure WT is 1/8 - 5/16. The other rod is made by Shakespeare but has no label other than that. It is thicker and heavier though. Both rods have spincast reels.
Then we went to Green Timbers using 4 pound line, #10 hooks, a float (balanced properly based off Rod's video) and green maggot bait for 3 hours without a bite. We had a great time and talked to a few fisherman there.
We decided to get up early and try. So at 5 am we went to Lafarge for 3.5 hours in the rain. We had a lot of fun being out together but again had no bites. This time we used bottom up with artificial Pink shrimp bait.
We went home and watched some videos on Youtube got excited and went back out fishing for another 3 hours in Green Timbers with the same results.
We are loving fishing (or slowly throwing money in a lake the way we do it). I have an open fishing lesson booked for us with gofishbc for Saturday. What else should we try to change or where else should we go to try to learn about fishing? We don't mind travelling a bit (live in Surrey), should we be going elsewhere or is Green Timbers and Lafarge OK?
Also, from what I have read/watched this week, our rods are too big. Does this matter much?
Thanks in advance,
Craig
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Hi Craig,
Welcome or at least welcome back to the fishing community.
Reading your post makes me happy that you are learning to fish.
As for tips…. If you’re standing around for a few hours not catching anything then sounds like you’re doing it just right. ::) That’s fishing!
The best advice I could give you is too walk over to somebody who has caught a fish and ask them how they did it.
My first outing flyfishing for pinks and everybody all around could not keep the fish off their line but I could not catch one. I did not want to ask anybody for advice, however at the very end of the day somebody walk up to me and asked if they see my line then added one small split shot. That’s all it took, then I was in the club.
I learnt 2 things that day, 1st sometimes you need to weight a fly and 2nd ALWAYS talk to your fellow angler.)
Tight lines.
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If you find that you are getting frustrated by your lack of success there are some nice fisheries around to build your confidence. Whenever I used to want to kill a few hours and catch some fish I would just head down to the Fraser and drown some worms. Usually I would go down around Duncan bar in Fort Langley/Abbotsford area but I'm sure there are other places as well. In an hour I'd usually catch a few different species of fish and it was always entertaining (just keep in mind that anywhere under the Mission train bridge is considered Tidal on the Fraser). You could also take a drive to Albert Dyck park in Abbotsford and catch a bunch of small bass which are fun on light tackle. Doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong, but you might want to set your two rods up differently, using either different baits or depths to try and find a method that will work.
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Welcome to the forum Craig, all those hours of fishing and no catching, the dedication! :D
Anyway, here are some of my suggestions. The fishing rod you have is not too bad, personally I prefer one that is a bit lighter. I always recommend a rod that rates between 2 and 6lb test for these small stocked trout. Even though a spinning rod with this rating is pretty light, you can actually use it to target many other species without too much of a challenge as well (anadromous trout and char in the Fraser River, pink salmon, small coho salmon, carp, bass, etc).
Make sure your float is small, and I tend to go for a slender/long one rather than a round one. The surface area is smaller when the float is long rather than round, so it tends to get pulled down more easily therefore bites are more easily detected.
Keep track on when fish are being stocked as well. While the lakes don't get fished out, fishing definitely slows down a week, two weeks, after each stocking. There are less fish, and the ones left over are more "educated", so they are harder to entice. You definitely want to try being at the lake the few days after it is stocked.
Bait, try shrimp and krill which I've used in some of the videos. Krill can be quite smelly, but cooked deli shrimped bought at the supermarket can work just as well. I find these two types of bait work best when you are float fishing.
Timing, be at the lake around the right time. Middle of the day can be tough, especially if it is sunny. It also tends to be breezy during the day, so harder to fish. Early morning and late evening are when fish become more active. I usually prefer fishing the lake around one hour before dark until I can no longer see my float. It's also the time when most people are having dinner, so the lake is usually pretty quiet. ;)
If you'd like more specific suggestion on individual lakes, you're welcome to email me at info@fishingwithrod.com too.
Good luck!
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Brings a smile to my face to see a dad and daughter working so hard together to catch some fish. Well done Craig.
When I take children freshwater fishing and I want to almost guarantee fish, I take them to one of two location: (1) Albert Dyck Park, as was previsously mentioned. The bass are small but plentiful and a bobber and worm is about as complicated as it gets. (2) Chilliwack/Vedder River after July 1 for trout. The trout are small (smaller than those stocked into lakes) but plentiful and a bobber and worm is as complicated as it gets. I have taken many kids to these locations and had them catch their first fish. In fact, my "guiding services"a re booked this year as I have plans with a family to take them mid July to the C/V for some trout fishing.
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Whonnock would be a great place to take her, throw out a float with a piece of worm under it or a small jig around the edges of the lilypads. Give it a little twitch, and voila crappie on the line ;) Fun to catch, good fight, and easy to catch LOTS. Sure it will help make her into an avid fisher.
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Just an update.
We went to the open fishing course from the fishery at gofishbc. It was really cheap and they supply everything including rods if you want them. Besides learning a lot of tricks about fishing, we caught 12 fish between us.
Then yesterday morning, we went back to the Lake for a little more fishing. Success! We both caught fish! ;D
It was really exciting and a great morning for us. Thanks a lot for taking the time to post your tips and places for us to fish. We are looking forward to trying them all out.
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Well done, congrats to both of you!
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Sounds great. well done :D :D :D
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Thats it your both hooked now
welcome the the world of fishing
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Congrats! Only 3-4 more months until Pink Salmon are here too!
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Just an update.
We went to the open fishing course from the fishery at gofishbc. It was really cheap and they supply everything including rods if you want them. Besides learning a lot of tricks about fishing, we caught 12 fish between us.
Then yesterday morning, we went back to the Lake for a little more fishing. Success! We both caught fish! ;D
It was really exciting and a great morning for us. Thanks a lot for taking the time to post your tips and places for us to fish. We are looking forward to trying them all out.
Good to hear that the L2F session worked out well, it usually does. :) The timing was also great because the lakes were just stocked last week (May 14th). There is another stocking coming up for Lafarge, Como, Green Timbers and Rice on May 23rd, so definitely take advantage of it. I'm just going through my emails from the last four days so will reply to yours soon. :)
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Come out to Rice Lake for Father's Day and we'll hook you up with some instruction.
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Thanks adriaticum, I will take you up on that
Craig
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Thanks adriaticum, I will take you up on that
Craig
Sounds good. Look for Alex.
This event along with Rodney's Fish for the Future in July are the best way to get your kids fishing.
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I'll be at the Rice Lake event too, will be the bait delivery boy this year. Berry's Bait and Tackle is supplying dew worm and krill, and I am bringing lots of Pautzke Bait single eggs for everyone to try out too. :)
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hey craig, just saw your pm, unfortunately it seems i cant respond to it without coughing up some cash. So in reply, yes you can get to the lily pads from the dock at whonnock. There are two docks there that you can fish off of, though you may have to vacate the dock to the left of the lake at times for the local rowing club as they own it. To an extent a jig is a jig, but i would recommend using either 1" white or chartreuse tube jigs under a float. Adjust the depth til you start hitting into lots of fish. Also I recommend twitching the float lightly every couple seconds. This gets the jig moving and the crappie biting ;) Good luck.
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Where is Rodney's event in July? My kids and I will be in Abbie during that time and would love to attend.
Many thanks
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It's scheduled on July 6th, but I'm waiting for final approval by the City of Richmond so should have more information soon.