Where to take a kid fishing this weekend????

[lakergrad]

Guys -

I'm looking for suggestions to take a kid fishing this weekend. I volunteeer as a Big Brother to a local Bay City 10 y/o. While I'm an avid angler, somehow I don't think he'd enjoy (or have the patience for) pulling cranks for an occasional walleye just yet. It's his first trip out, so I'm looking something that could provide some good action. He's never been fishing, so any species would be fine. I'll be in the Lund, so keep that in mind with your suggestions.

Thanks for the input and tight lines!
Patrick

[scottyhoover]

get on the saginaw river, take some live bait and crankbaits....then you can catch sheephead, catfish, maybe a bonus walleye. Take the crankbaits to some rocky shorelines and you will find smallmouth bass.....it would be a blast for a kid. Boat traffic on the worst days is still not as bad as an inland lake.

[lakergrad]

Thanks for the reply. What's the best area to fish? Head towards Saginaw from Bay City or launch in Saginaw and head towards Midland? Any thoughts?

Thanks again!

[bigbob]

i go in at the russ st ramp just up from were the rivers meet [ flint ,titt, cass } its just south of 46 west side of river ,we got some monster sheeps there a few weeks ago go south out of the ramp to the split and drift back drag a minn or worm or white twister , then hang on to your pole:yikes: . good luck - bob

[scottyhoover]

laker.....just about any area will yield some sheeps or cats.....Not that I ever target them on purpose but we all know how many sheeps you can jig up while trying for walleyes...I can't imagine it is any different now. The split, hooters, and KFC (Saginaw) are areas that come to mind.

I've never still-fished for them but that would probably be the best tactic, as vertical jigging might be hard for the little guy, although with sheepies you usually don't have to a great jig fisherman. Maybe just do the general catfish technique, I've seen plenty of people anchor off above bridges and still-fish with live bait on bottom by dropping it back into the current. I really think you can get him on some fish, and some hard fighters at that. To cover more water do what Bob said and just drift with the current but don't worry about the kid's jigging skills...hook a minnow on a jig head and have him hold it off bottom 4-6inches...if there's sheeps in the area you'll know it in a hurry. Stinger hook may increase his odds. The whole river has different kinds of fish in it,...up and downstream....so go where you are most familar or try the areas mentioned above. I'm smiling just thinking about a little kid having a tussle with one of those 'barn door' sized fish.

[Lucky Dog]

You could leave the boat at home and take him to Stratford park in midland, lots of small panfish for kids to catch from shore or the dock. They keep that pond stocked pretty full of fish for the kids to catch.

[Skeeter]

I was a big brother up till a few years ago. I took the young boy to Stratford park in midland several times. I found the attention span on most of the boys in the group is not very long. So we would fish, walk around the pond, then go for an ice cream or snack IF I wanted to that is. Had fun. Nels

[Big_P]

First off hats off to you for being a big brother. It's VERY important to a boy too have a man figure in his life. Me dad passed away when I was 9 years old and I had my first big brother around the age of 10. HE SUCKED!!!:lol: Never did crap with me but, take me to his friends house were all I would do was sit on the couch and watch T.V. while he sat there and drank and played cards with his friends!!:rant: WELL mom was pissed so, needless to say he wasn't my big brother anymore or anyones for that fact. WELL i got my second big brother a year later and this man was a god send. I always loved fishing but, being without a father to take me it was pretty limited and the first big brother NEVER took me but, John did. He had a 22' Century and we would stay the weekend up at his cabin in Benzie and launch out of Frankfort. AND THAT'S WHEN THE FISHING WAS HOT!!! I mean imagine being a 11 or 12 year old kid battling a 32# King with a TRIPLE header with only two of you on the boat!!:dizzy: :lol: Got my biggest Steelie with him to at 12#....VERY GOOD MEMORIES. I hope you really understand how important your friendship is to this boy. He will admire you for a lifetime. It's been 18 years since I had him as a big brother and about that long since we spoke but, I still think about him all the time especially when I'm on the big water.:) Anyway.....sorry about the rant. As the other guys said I'm from Midland as well and Stratford is my old stomping grounds. I lived in the neighborhood back there for 6 years growing up. If you go there take him to the short, slanted dock. The big one there had apparently fell under.:yikes: Drop it down right over the side with a bit of crawler and you'll hit the gills. If you sit it on bottom you'll probably pickup some Bullheads. They usually bite after a good rain. The Cats used to be in there plentiful.....don't know how they are now but, the place is REALLY weedy so, getting a clean line is virtually impossible. The best time and place to get the Cats.....O.K. I'm letting out my secret:lol: .....Just before dark off the beach. We used to fish it at night and did awesome. Just cast it in front of the buoys and let it hit bottom, tighten the slack and wait. I know the park closes at dusk but.....can't say they are as cool now but, the police would check us out to make sure we weren't screwing around and let us be once they knew we were fishing. So in the words of Forrest Gump..."That's all I can say about that," Good luck.:D