School of Fish had the pleasure of taking Kevin and his 2 boys out for an evening fishing trip on Grand Lake. The water is high and dirty on Grand Lake as a result of the recent heavy rains, but Ryan handled the flooded boat launch like a pro despite the water up to the doors of the truck.

 When it comes to younger children in the boat, we have to be aware of the kid’s attention span, in addition to their casting abilities. We started in an area with smallmouth bass around, but the small trees and bushes in the area made for a difficult spot for the kids to manage. So we headed to another location and immediately Dad hooked into a smallmouth bass, and the kids got to feel the sandpapery teeth of a smallmouth.

We spent some time in this area catching a few small bass, and teaching the kids about jigs and dropshots for catching deep water smallies. The initial excitement of the boat, the early fish catches, and the boat ride did eventually fade, but this is when the snacks came into play. School of Fish fully encourages snacks on board and will never complain about goldfish crackers in the carpet. Goldfish crackers should really be the official snack of School of Fish actually, it’s such a fitting snack for a fishing trip. We saw Canada Geese, Eagles, paddleboarders, and other power boats during our outing, all of which added to the excitement for the kids when the fishing was no longer holding their attention. It was a very successful outing for all and there’s already discussions about dad and some friends getting out for a more fishing focused trip in the future.

Please note, when kids are on board a School of Fish guided outing, kids are asked to wear PFDs at all time, adults are required to wear lifejackets anytime the outboard motor is running and encouraged to wear the PFDs at all times during the outing. Safety is always the priority for all clients.