Help me get my son hooked on fishing

[Travis v]

It's been a few weeks since I've done any crappie fishing so I'm not sure where they're at right now, and it's been a decade since I've done any night fishing so I was wondering if anyone would be willing to point me in the right direction. I'm taking my son fishing tonight and I need some action to keep him interested. He likes to go hang out with dad but usually ends up on his phone or exploring the bank and playing with sticks and rocks.. I have a floating light, several different types of jigs, and I'm going to grab shiners on the way. We'll be putting the boat in at HBSP. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Travis v]

My plan was to tie off to some blowdown's in a cove near the power plant and put the light out but the last time I was in that cove I saw a bunch of garfish and I don't know if crappie would be in there with the gar or not since I don't know anything about gar

 

[lmk25]

Gar don't mind crappie, and crappie don't mind gar. You probably won't see the crappie on the surface. Both of our kids don't like fishing, and we don't force them to go with us. Try not targeting serveral species with different baits, make short trips with lots of snacks.
Good luck!

 

[Travis v]

Thanks imk25. Im trying to disguise a fishing trip as an adventure on the water.. Kind of like wrapping a pets medicine in a treat.. Haha! I'm bringing the sleeping bags and pillows so we can sleep on the boat and a little firewood so we can stop on an island and roast marshmallows and hotdogs. I'm starting to think wolftever and rabbit island area might be better..

 

[davisjeremy1981]

There are always people Crappie tied up under wolftever bridge at night with lanterns out. Crappie and White bass run through there at night. Have also been seeing a lot of Crappie suspended from 5' to 15' in about 20' of water along creek channels. I've never crappie fished around the plant so don't know what you might get into there.

 

[Travis v]

thanks davisjeremy1981, we tried several places and caught a few here and there but nothing exciting in crappie.. my son caught a 13 pound blue cat on his crappie rod. That was fun to watch and was worth the terrible night of sleep on the boat

 

[davisjeremy1981]

Nothing better than a big fish on an ultra light and 4lb test. Glad that made the trip worth it.

 

[scubajt41]

My advice is to start a kid on bluegill. The more they catch and the more action, the more they are hooked. Then work up to other species. You can also catfish while fishing for other species..

 

[BASS MAN]

My son leaves.phone at home or we dont go fishing

 

[Bucksbass]

Bluegill are on bed right now and it's only going to get better over the next few weeks. It's allot of fun to watch kids reel them in on ultralight gear. He will get hooked on that for sure.

 

[Travis v]

I've put him on bluegill when he was younger and he had fun for a little while but lost interest. I think that 13 pound catfish hooked him. He keeps talking about wanting to catch a bigger one. That's unfortunate for me because I don't like catfish at all. They're fun to catch and release, but I don't want to clean them eat them or get their slime all over my boat.. When I saw the proud look on his face when we got it in the boat, I knew I would be doing all of those things while pretending to like it. Haha!

 

[davisjeremy1981]

lol sounds like you've got the little guy hooked