Beginner fishing for kids in Singapore

One day, many years ago, my father brought me to an estuary tidal gate at a creek in Changi to fish. This is the start of my fishing adventure. We brought along some bamboo rods, each tied with a piece of fishing string. A hook and a sinker were then attached to the string. We baited the hooks with prawn meat and placed the bait just below the water surface. Big schools of puffer fish could be seen going for the bait. The puffer fish were very greedy. When they bite on the bait they refused to let go. So when the rod was flipped up, the fish flew out of the water and onto the bank. We then just had to pick them up. This was so much fun. I am hooked and there is no going back.

Nowadays, kids are attracted to mostly indoor activities like computer games, handheld electronic devices etc. It is difficult to get them out of the house. Why not try fishing? It can be challenging enough to attract their attention.

When it is time to teach my kids fishing, I keep thinking about where could be the best place to introduce fishing to them. It is important that the kids are exposed to successful fishing the first time they participate. This will keep their interest going.

The place must have the following criteria:

1. It must have lots of small fishes. Their strikes will keep the children busy and interested as they have short attention span.
2. The fishes must be greedy so that it will be easy to catch them. Who wants to go fishing if there is nothing to catch?
3. The place must be easily accessible and safe. The water must not be too deep at the bank.
4. There should be toilets nearby. You will never know when there is an emergency. The toilets will be useful for washing up after the fishing session.

After thinking for a while, I thought that a pond in the park might be a good place. At a visit to a nearby park some time ago, I had observed that there are some small fishes around. But are they co-operative enough for a fishing session? We will find out soon enough.

As for the fishing method, I think Pole Fishing will be the best setup. Pole fishing is the most basic form of fishing with a rod. Imagine how simple can it be, there is just the rod, the main line, the float, the weight and the hook. Also casting using the pole is easy. A simple under arm swing will be enough to cast the whole rig out. Any kid can master pole fishing in no time.

And because there will be something, which is the float, to help indicate when the fish is biting, the kids will be occupied looking expectantly at the float. 

So I made two simple foam floats from discarded foam packing material and paper clips.  I also found two old 5ft telescope rods which can be used as the pole. I used size 16 barbless hook as the fishes at the pond were very small. Bread would be used as bait.

An updated version of the rig is shown below.

Float Rig for Pole Fishing

The day of reckoning arrived and, after a brief talk on how to bait with bread, when to strike and a short demonstration of the underarm casting, the kids were left to try their luck.

Luckily the fishes were co-operative. No sooner had the bait touch the water, the float started to bob up and down. In their eagerness to catch the fish, the kids strike too early. I had to tell them to wait until the float had either started to move away or was under the water surface for slightly longer time before striking with a sharp short lifting of the rod. After a few fishes later, the kids started to catch fish on their own. After a fish was caught, the look of the grin on their faces was priceless.

As can be seen from the pictures, the kids had lots of fun during the short fishing trip. The fishes were released after the photo session.

First Fish of the Day.

What a catch for 2 hour of fishing.

Why not bring your kids fishing. It is a good opportunity to get the kids outdoors to enjoy nature and teach them a skill that will last a lifetime. Why not make a fishing trip part of the kid’s next school holiday programme. I believe that a family that fishes together will stay together.

And please practice catch, photo and release (aka CPR). It is fine to keep one or two but release the majority of the catch. This will help to preserve fish stock and for the other kids to enjoy the sport of fishing.

And I will add my favorite saying:
Give a man a fish; you will feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish; you will feed him for a life time.

Happy Fishing and Tight Line.