Many of my blog posts are devoted towards helping your kids get better at fishing, but in order for them to improve, you need to improve your fishing skills as well. If you’re completely new to this sport, you might have some questions about how you can quickly improve at fishing. While some people think fishing takes more luck than skill, that just isn’t true. This skill based activity requires specific effort to become better, and I’m here to help.
Besides the obvious “practice,” there are five key steps that you can take to become a better angler and fisherman for your kids: You can hire a guide, join a forum, join a club, volunteer at professional tournaments, and keep reading everything you can.
Hire a Fishing Guide
Vince Lombardi once said, “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” He was right.
While you can go out there on your own and simply start casting, hoping to get lucky, you’ll improve at fishing much faster if you hire a skilled guide to help you learn the right way to do things.
Look, I’ve started hobbies before–I know that when you’re just starting out, the last thing you want to do is invest a ton of money into something. You might be wary of forking over $300-$500 for a fishing guide to take you when you don’t even know if you’ll still like the sport in another six weeks.
Well, if you pick the right guide, you might like the sport for another six decades.
What a Good Guide Can Teach You
A good guide can teach you so much in as little as 6 – 8 hours:
- You’ll learn the basic mechanics of fishing like casting, retrieve speed, and proper lure presentation;
- They can talk about why they have certain gear and make recommendations for your budget (as a bonus, you get to try it out before you buy it if you go with their setups);
- Your guide can teach you why they’re taking you to certain spots, and what they’d look for to find spots like it in your area;
- They can teach you about the different major fish species, where they typically live, and how you can typically make them bite;
- They can teach you about how to properly hold a fish and safely release;
- The list goes on and on.
How to Pick a Fishing Charter
I’ve written an in-depth article about how to choose a fishing charter, but I’ll give you some basics for what you’re looking for now:
- You want 1:1 instruction at this stage (or at least 2:1 if you bring your wife or girlfriend). You will not get this on one of the large “party barge” charters;
- Try to find a guide who specializes in species you might target with your kids (bass and pike would be a good bet);
- You need to find someone who is properly licensed and has any necessary U.S. Coast Guard certifications.
Depending on your goal and the age of your kids, you might want to leave them at home. Don’t get me wrong–bringing your kids on a fishing charter is a WONDERFUL idea, sometimes. It’s a great way to spend time with them and bond. All the same, if your goal is to acquire 1:1 instruction, this trip is not for them. If you bring smaller kids, the guide is going to spend all of their time with them, and rightfully so.
Even if you feel like you have a pretty good grasp of the basics or even consider yourself more advanced, a fishing guide can still teach you new things and expand your horizons. I’d been fishing for two decades before I went on my first charter, yet I’ve still learned tons from my guide. How could I not? My two decades were spent fishing every few weekends. He had over four decades of fishing nearly every day!
You can always learn more.
Join a Fishing Forum
I’m a member of several fishing forums and lurk on several others. I’ve found them to be a fantastic way to help me improve my fishing skills. I love how they connect anglers from all over the globe as if everyone was chatting at a local tackle shop.
If there is a forum about you’re favorite fishing hole, consider yourself in luck. Fishing Forums are great ways to quickly increase your skill set and experience because you can search for certain topics and get years worth of opinions. It does take a little digging sometimes, as well as some skill with the search function, but there is gold to be found on fishing forums.
Unbiased Opinions
Forums also help to see through the marketing cloud that is so heavy in the fishing industry. Rather than wading through someone’s sales pitch, every day anglers will get right to the information that you need. There are plenty of pros who will give you tips interlaced with sponsor plugs, but for the most part the people on fishing forums are regular folks like you and me. They just talk about what works for them. I value that.
On the other hand, if you consistently see the same lure or manufacturer mentioned over several years by dozens of different people, then maybe there is a reason that product has withstood the test of time. Perhaps the marketing talk is more than just words. That’s how I learned of PowerPro braided fishing line, and other items I used each day.
One of the main reasons I go to forums is for research on lakes. Knowing what spots other members went to and what lures they used successfully can save you a lot of time. I talked a bit about how I gather this information in my post about why you can’t catch fish – and what to do about it.
There’s a forum out there for everything. Regardless of what species you target or what region you’re in, just conduct a google search for “bass fishing forum” or “Nevada fishing forum” and you’ll soon find a home.
Join a Fishing Club
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better way to quickly improve your fishing skills than by joining a local club. This is a great way to meet local anglers, make new friends, and learn from dozens of more experienced anglers. Some clubs have access to private waters including trout ponds designed for members’ kids to fish, which can be a huge plus.
Do a little research before you join as club culture can vary widely. Some are very competitive and host very large tournaments for experienced anglers. Others are more down-to-earth and just a way for a group of friends to hang out, have a few beers, and shoot the breeze. Choose a club that will fit well with your personality, interests, and goals.
If you’re looking at a club that hosts tournaments, consider spending the first year or two as a non-boater. Even if you own a boat of your own, this is a good way to start. Doing so will allow you to spend time with numerous boat owners in the club and get to know them all better. You’ll get to see their different fishing styles and be exposed to numerous techniques. It can be a great way to quickly learn how to fish. One thing is for certain. You’ll quickly learn that fishing requires more skill than luck after you notice the same old timers bringing in the wins week after week.
Granted, it can be a little intimidating to join a club full of strangers. You’ll need to be able to take a joke (or 10) and poke fun at yourself a bit, but just remember that everyone in the club was in your shoes at one time. Give it a short while and you won’t be the rookie any more.
Volunteer as a Marshal at a Tournament
An exciting way to get better at fishing and improve your skill set is to volunteer as a marshal. Several of the larger tournament trails have a marshal program where individuals can sign up to basically act as a referee for the professional fisherman. It’s the marshal’s responsibility to ensure that the professional follows all rules and regulations and generally to keep an eye on them during the tournament.
In addition to acting as a referee, marshals act as reporters of sorts. They are responsible for taking photographs, reporting back on the approximate size of the pro’s catch, etc. It gives you something to do besides just sitting there watching someone else fish.
While you do have to pay a fee to watch others fish and can’t fish yourself, acting as a marshal for a tournament would be akin to sitting in the passenger seat of a stock car at a NASCAR race. You’re not going to get closer to a professional athlete in the middle of a competition. Depending on your luck, you could watch one of the most skilled anglers in history go fishing!
That last word is important to remember: while professional fishermen tend to be great people, they’re also under a ton of stress in each tournament as this is how they provide for their families. You can learn a ton from this experience, but don’t be offended if the pro isn’t very chatty.
Keep Reading About Fishing
While nothing beats on the water experience, you can learn a lot about fishing by sitting down and reading. You are in luck, as there is no shortage of information out there. For example, there are several outstanding magazines and blogs that you subscribe to. Reading these articles and trying to soak up everything you can will go a long way towards improving your fishing skills.
I’m a big fan of In-Fisherman. I prefer this magazine over other popular fishing ones because whereas others tend to cover one species only (usually bass), In-Fisherman covers multiple species (including bluegill, crappie, sunfish, and other fish that make great objectives for a fishing trip with kids).
The folks at In-Fisherman also have a ton of great videos and television programs available and several books that have been in publication for decades. Some of my earliest memories of reading are of staring at their books about northern pike and just marveling at the photos. For some suggestions, check out my post about the best fishing books I’ve ever read.
Other Helpful Fishing Resources
Of course, you can also find several good articles on this blog (though I might be biased), or drop me a line at johnpaxton@fishingfather.com and ask your question directly.
- Why You Can’t Catch Fish – And What to Do About It
- The Basic Skills You Need to Take Your Kids Fishing
Finally, please consider purchasing my book, Fishing with Kids: A Parent’s Guide
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask For Help
Fishermen can be pretty secretive about their honey holes. They also tend to hide what they’re catching them on in the middle of a tournament. Even so, for the most part, serious fishermen are eager and willing to help others learn.
It’s in our best interests. This entire hobby exists because of all the new folks joining it each year and giving the old timers something to write about, all the individuals buying a license that protects the environment, and all the people who dare to be great and pay an entry fee for a tournament, on top of all they spent on their equipment.
We need your enthusiasm and we’re willing to trade you our knowledge to get it. So don’t be afraid to ask!
As always, if you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it so it can help others.
Thanks,
John Paxton
