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A great technique for fishing with kids (or anyone)

The other afternoon I took my girls fishing to Carvins Cove reservoir, one of our favorite spots. My plan was to use it as a shake-down cruise for my boat. (Yeah, I haven't had it out all spring. Sad, huh?)

When I had trouble getting the lights on the trailer to work it didn't look like it was going to happen. The girls said they were wanted to fish from shore if I couldn't get it working. (Yeah, I'm a proud father.) But I did eventually get things working so we headed out there.

Our plan was to fish for bluegills. We cruised into a little cove, anchored and I had them pitch out their worm and bobber rigs. Elisabeth had a cane pole so obviously she was fishing close the boat. Madeleine had a spincast rig but insisted on casting herself so she was also fishing close to the boat.

The water is clear and I could see there were no bluegills anywhere near their worms. Before I picked up to move I decided to make a few casts with a little Rebel Wee Craw. As I reeled the thing in I could see a couple nice bluegills following it and nipping at it, but they weren't getting hooked. When the lure was next to Madeleine's worm I stopped reeling. The bluegill immediately hammered her worm.

Fish on!

So that was our method. I lured them in with the crawdad and they hit the bait -- the lure and switch technique, if you will.

We didn't crush them, but we caught more than we would have had they just left those sad worms sitting out there next to the boat.

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About this blog

Mark Taylor holding a fish.

While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures.

Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism.

After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters.

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