BigBendFishing.Net

For a January, rescheduled meeting, we had a good turnout at Beef's last night with 35 in attendance. It was great seeing everyone and just wanted to say "thanks" to Katie Showman for giving a great talk on how to get kids / first time fishermen to have an enjoyable first experience on the water...maybe she'll post some of her talking points on here.

The first tournament will be held on February 7th out of Jerry's Bait and Tackle. It will be a redfish tournament (seeing as trout season is closed in Feb) and each team will weigh their largest slot redfish. Registration will be from 5:30 - 6:30 a.m. at JBT and the weigh-in will begin at 3:30 p.m.

We gave away some great prizes from our sponsors last night including some great Saltwater Sportsman gear, Bite-a-bait lures, gifts from South Georgia Outdoors, and an awesome Sirius radio with a 6 month subscription.

See y'all next month.

Thanks for the recap Casey and the presentation Katie.
Fun was had by all.

Takes guts to get up and talk in front of that crew.

Eerman wrote: Takes guts to get up and talk in front of that crew.

Nah, the NFGFC members are all good peeps.


Like Casey said, I talked about how to get your kid or lady interested in fishing. Since I used to be a kid and I try to be a lady, I have a little experience in this department. Here are some inexpensive and easy ways to make the fishing experience more enjoyable for a novice:

1) Get your junior fishing buddy some equipment. It doesn’t have to be anything brand new or fancy, just a little tackle box, fishing shirt, or rod/reel combo can make someone feel like a real fisherman.

2) Take lots of pictures and make a big deal of even the trashiest fish. You can send pictures to matt@gaffmag.net or eric@floridasportsman.com if you want your little angler to get some publicity. Both magazines are great about publishing pictures of ladies and kids.

3) Bring a little special food/drink that you don’t usually have at home. Kids tend to go from happy to hangry pretty quickly—of course, that never happens to me.

4) Finally, know when to call it a day! If you want to fish for 14 hours, have someone meet you at the dock or drive separately. Knowing when to quit can make a huge difference in whether you end the day on a high or low note.

Now you know. I think fishing with your family is a great way to strengthen your relationships and make lasting memories. (I’m probably not allowed to use the word “relationship” on this board. My apologies. Please don’t kick me out already. )

Taking kids fishing is the best experience ever. If you guys ever do a kids tournament let me know. I would like to participae in that. I don't have any kids but my radar unit picks up satellite tv/radio so I will be a popular dude! I have also been known to throw the xbox on board too! When folks (my girlfriend) gets board I like to keep something for them to do. A miserable first time angler may not give you another shot so I want them to stay entertained. Lets do something for the kids only this spring!

Don't want to derail a thread but, Natureboy if your interested the NFGFC has for the past several years participated in a "Take A Kid Fishing" event. We have partnered with the Florida Baptist Childern's home and taken all the youngsters out for a short day. Here's a link to a thread from last year. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17492&p=145271&hilit=take+a+kid+fishing#p145271
You might browse it to get a feel for what the event was like. There is an absence of pic's due to restrictions necessary to protect some identies of the youngsters.

This is knda off subject as well, if you really want to impress your lady anglers, get them their very own fishing rod in pink or purple. I know a guy.

Katie is absolutely right...I found with my wife that the best way to get her to go fishing is to bring along something to drink that we don't have at home...in this case I have found that Margaritas seem to work best...may not be the best bet for a kid (would have worked for me though)

Boat Drinks

I used to take them to breakfast - that was a treat for everyone. One time I let them ride on the hood of the car on the way out on the fort road - memorable for them. Then make sure you let them enjoy the alligators, deer or other critters on the side of the road.
Oh, and make sure you speak like you know what you're saying about any strange fish or mud holes or grass or crabs or pelicans that chase your lures when you're out on the water. Remember, they are seeing through a different pair of eyes (that we haven't seen out of for a long while). Choice memories!

Ride them on the hood....lie to them....and let them pet alligators....

Jumptrout51 wrote:Ride them on the hood....lie to them....and let them pet alligators....

Great job, Katie. Hate I missed it.

What no pictures Casey

Someone should record these presentations and podcast them. hint, hint Mr. Black Tshirt

Sounds like you did a good job Katie

Chalk wrote: Someone should record these presentations and podcast them. hint, hint Mr. Black Tshirt

I didn't get my check yet.

Chalk....I've been thinking the same thing for awhile now.
NFGFC should do a YouTube of meetings and a regular on tournaments and fishing in general.