Need Help on Where/How to Show 8yr old Grandson a Great Day Of Fishing

[Dave Martin]

Haven't been able to get out much this season for fishing, only one time with my brother Buzzy for walleye, been promising my 8yr old grandson Henry I'd take him out and need to do it this week before he goes back to school.

Won't take him musky fishing because I want him to enjoy fishing hahahahaha.

I'm willing to float a bobber, jig, troll whatever so he catches some fish. Probably Upper River or Lower River, not sure how lumpy Lake Erie or Lake Ontario would be.

Thanks in advance!

-Dave

[John Jarosz]

Dave...great going with the grandson.  Way to get him started.

So...here's how I got my own kids, my nieces and my nephews started.

1. you should go for panfish.  Pans will bite on anything & the objective is for the grandson.  As you already know, I'm sure, it's an awfully big lake out there if the fish aren't biting.

2. I started them all on the Cassadaga lakes (Middle Lake).  Plenty of panfish around the trees, stumps & docks.  In the summer I'd take my guys out at least once a week there.  Take plenty of crawlers.  I still kayak in that area for panfish.  And they're eating size, too.  You'll get sunnies, bluegills, perch & an occasional bass.

3.  Chautauqua off Mayville, straight out from the launch ramp in 10'-12' ft of water where the weeds are about 4'-6' below the surface.  Also off Webbs in a similar weedpatch.  Crawlers worked best.

Both of those lakes are good even on windy days & you can't fish L.E.

4. Lake E. can be dicey but when it's calm, off the Catt to the 65' mark, troll parallel to shore "s" turning at 65'.  Use dipsey's or jet divers near the bottom.  Tons of hooks, walleye, decent sized silver bass, white perch, sheepies & gobies.  Kids aren't going to care what they catch.

These spots are all from a boat but if you want some good places from shore, let me know & I'll post where I took the kids, friends, & relatives.

Good luck to you & better luck to him!

[Dave Martin]

Thanks for the quick reply John.

Judy and I raised three beautiful girls (no boys) and I had them out fishing all the time when they were young, all three married with kids now and none of the son-in-laws fish or hunt.... go figure. Plus the son-in-laws are Giants, Steelers and Patriots fans hahahahaha.

Yeah.... potential for a an extremely large family holiday incident in our future, keep tuned to eyewitness news  lol.

Looking for something a bit closer to home (Niagara Falls) but really appreciate your comments.

-Dave

[John Pensyl]

I'd hit up Josh Kane for the local hot bite. He's always got his finger on the pulse of the Niagara. River bass are simple enough but weekend boat traffic can be a nightmare. Guarantee he's got a local yokel fishing spot loaded with fish for you.

[John Jarosz]

WOW...that's quite a family you got there & I'll bet some neat stories of their younger days fishing.  I had two boys (no girls), both single, they fish, backpack, kayak & snowmobile among other outdoor sports.  One hunts & the other is a better fisherman than I am (that's not hard to do!).  One's an engineer, the other an airline pilot.  And, you know, they still talk about our fishing stories from 20 yrs ago when we get together. 

Hopefully your daughters (the moms) take the kids out while the dads are watching the games.  It's amazing, isn't it, how much kids get out of fishing, hunting & the outdoors.

I've always said that their lives with you are over with in a flash, off to college & they're on their own.

Sorry I couldn't help you on more locations.  I live in Lakeview & most of the activities were in the Southtowns.  Good luck & I'll be watching the news with a family gathering like that.

[Tony Scime]

Dave,

In the upper Niagara, you can't go wrong with drop-shotting for bass. I've taken many nieces, nephews (when they were younger than your grandson), and now their very young kids out for smallmouths. Used to drift with live bait (even broken pieces of earth worms) and would catch all sorts of things. Now I pretty much limit it to drop-shotting for smallmouths. We always catch fish. I use 3" Gulp minnows (black shad).

I've explained how to drop-shot in this forum before, but here's a review: Tie a drop-shot hook in-line using a palomar knot and leaving a 2 foot tag line. At the tag line tie on a 1/4 to 3/8 oz. sinker. Gulp minnow on the hook, or you can use a twister tail or even live bait. Let out enough line to feel the sinker bouncing bottom. Just hang on until a fish takes the bait.

I concentrate on the 18 to 22 foot depths for bigger fish, but you can also go shallower - more small fish, but still some big ones. Drift with the current. In the east river, I stay near the drop offs. In the west, you can fish almost anywhere. Dependable spots include  above and below the South G.I. Bridge (I prefer the GI side), above Strawberry Island, In front of Beaver Island Beach and down along Beaver Island. But there are bass almost everywhere.

If the water isn't too rough, the Canadian shoreline along Fort Erie above the Peace Bridge (from the old cement dock to the Fort Erie cement wall) can be very good. Also the drift below Thompsons Hole to the International Bridge (Canadian side) can be productive for bigger fish.

Young kids get the hang of it pretty quickly.

Good luck!

Tony  

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

Dave, There is a very large school of big perch in 52 ft of water straight north out of the Catt.Perch rig with emerald shiners on bottom, double headers and 1 lbers, non stop action.Just look for the pack of boats!

[John Jarosz]

Cap'n Larry...you got the coordinates of that pack? (haha, just kidding).  When we were out there were a couple of small perch packs, West & East of the catt but hooks everywhere you looked, mostly at 65'-68'.  Winds are supposed to be 10 knots or less this coming week.  Perfect perch weather!  I use a looper rig with live shiners.

[Dave Martin]

Thanks to all, Tony, Capt Larry John J & John P.

Even took John P's advice and chatted with Josh Kane last night, took Judy out for her B'Day dinner at the Buffalo Chop House.

I'm an old smallie guy from years gone by so tony's tips may be what we do but I've also been dying to do some perch fishing so haven't ruled out Capt Larry's tip.

To John J, you're comment about having the kids for such a short time and then they go to college and begin their own lives really hit home with me too.

Lived that part of my life, daughters all went away to college, met guys there and stayed in the area except one, heres the breakdown  of how I ended up with Giants, Steelers & Patriot son-in-laws if you'd like a good chuckle with the morning coffee.

Rhonda - Fordham Law in NYC, married Ken (Giants Fan)

Tiffany - Columbia Law in NYC, married Mike (Steelers) but she came home.

Shauna'h - Yale in New Haven,CT married Brad (ugh.. the dreaded Patriots)

hahahaha, all great guys, we are blessed to have them part of our family, but just like I tell them, one slip-up and you're outta here lol!

Thanks again guys..... I'll let you know how Henry and I make out, looks like a Tuesday outing right now.

-Dave

[John Jarosz]

Dave...it looks like you did your job as a parent, and one heck of a great job it was!

(and make sure Henry reads this):

HENRY: ..show your grandpa how to fish & you'll make him proud.  I know you'll catch more fish than he will.  Good luck to you both and have fun!!  Make sure you post how you did.

[Dave Martin]

Thanks John...........

Will post our now going to be Wednesday fishing report.

Also.... anyone who knows me, will tell you the girls got their good looks and smarts from Judy........ certainly not me hahahahaha

-Dave

[Dave Martin]

A sorry update but hope for a better one soon.

Prior to the scheduled date of fishing with grand-son henry on wednesday, my brother buzzy said he'd treat me to a couple of days trolling the upper river in his rig, Lund 1950 ProV with Honda 150hp & Honda 9.9hp kicker, couldn't pass that up.

7am Monday we launch from Sheridan and head out, just got to the front of strawberry when his audible console alarm starts beeping on an oil pressure issue, stop the boat, hmmm... can't risk running the big motor that's for sure....figure we could troll around the rest of the day on the kicker, put the rods down, didn't get the 2nd rod in the salty before kicker stalls.... huh?.... wouldn't restart, sputtered, suspect water in the gas, unbelievable.... hahahaha...... trolled back to sheridan on the minnkota bow mount.

To be continued when i can get an actual fish report with Henry..............

-Dave

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

Dave, Wow that is a tough start! You would have been reeling floating grass & weeds like us!