With the offshore forecast looking so calm I was wondering your thoughts on how young is too young to take a kid offshore. I will be goin out of Oregon Inlet pulling baits for tuna. My boy is 3.5 and my daughter is 6. We will be going out in a 30ft. Hydrasport. I plan on having it a relaxing time fishing with maybe a 6 pole spread to start and see how that goes. My wifey will go along as well so it won't be just Daddy to take care of everything. Any thoughts? Am I ludicrous for even thinking this?
IF YOU THINK THEY CAN HANDLE THE LIFE JACKET ALL DAY THEN.....DADDY'S CALL
I SAY YES TO THE 6 YR OLD BUT THE 3....IMO....A BIT YOUNG FOR A 30FTER....A FULL CABIN BOAT THEN I'D SAY TAKE EM BOTH WITH THE MILDER WEATHER IN THE FORECAST
I'd have to agree with BOX here. I have a 5 year old and she is fine around the beach and has been offshore but that was in a boat with a full cabin and yep that is were she stayed most of the day..watching cartoons.....lol
To expect them to make it all day on a center console with nothing to do is asking a LOT .....with that said they are your kids and you know them better than any of us.....
My little girl will wait one more year and next year the Mahi's better watch out.....she is gonna be slayer.....
thanks, I am more worried about the 6 y/o than the 3 y/o( he seems to be a getter). I think I'll just read the reports of the slayings and be grateful for the time I get to spend with them on land for now, maybe cruise around the shallows a little with them and sight see. Might be better off hiring the pros for the day and really be able to focus on them having a good time. Thanks for the input.
Have to mimick the thoughts before. The question for the younger ones is can you keep them entertained throughout the day. If fish are biting then they are fine if there is a time and it usually is, when the fish are not chewing for hours, then it gets a bit hairy to stick the day out while listening to them wanting to go back home. Also, I always keep on some tackle for bouncing on the bottom when there is nothing biting so they at least catch something. They just want to catch a fish, the right species is a bonus.Again this was the situation with my sons at age 4 and 5. Now that they are older it is a lot easier and most cases want to stay longer than we do. However, the case can be made that those days, which I kept to mostly half to three-quarter (back home around 1-2), may have helped them out as they got older. It's your call, but I would definetly take them as far and as long as they can go, and try to get them back while they are happy and remember the good parts of the trip. The best part is you are going fishing as a FAMILY and spending quality time with them, no Wii, no ball to throw, no phone, just you and your family spending time that will never be forgotten.
GOOD LUCK and keep us informed on the trip!!!!!!!!
I have thought long and hard about this topic with three little boys. The hard thing about taking little ones off-shore is that once you are off ... you are committed regardless of how the kids are doing. I have decided that, with kids, the trip can not be like a normal off-shore trip with total concentration on catching fish.
For me its really important that my kids have a good time or I fear that they will not be excited about going in the future. You have to flip your mentality, which is not easy to do (for some of us . You have to be 100% focused on the kids having a good time.... As long as you are prepared to come back in from wherever you are if they stop having fun ... you are good to go.
I have had some great trips with them "near off shore" .... far enough to catch some nice fish but not so far that I couldn't get in within an hour or so. I think its also good to plan on a 1/2-3/4 day.
I will never forget my first trip out of Morehead with my two oldest boys. They were 3 and 5 at the time. We went about 20 miles out on a beautiful day in August. We caught Spanish and bluefish on the way out and trolled and live baited for the rest of the day catching a bunch of Dolphin, Kings and a few AJ's for the grown ups who wanted a tug. One of the best days of my life.
I, also, strongly believe that even if you have your own boat it sometimes makes sense to charter a bigger boat where all the work is taken care of and you can focus on your kids.
Good luck on your trip ... whatever it ends up being!
(the picture is Parker ... my 3 year old (at the time) on the way in from the trip I was talking about)
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those trips can turn out either way. Been there where we fished most of the day and had a great time, also had a few that after the 2 hour ride, the whinning started from both the kids and the wife and we turned around and ran home. i run a 42 with ac sat tv gamimg system etc. Its a crap shoot for sure.
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I would say no if either of your kids cannot swim, even with a life jacket if they fell in.....
We do not have eyes in the back of our heads, if the mrs is looking after one and you are into a fish of a life time...
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. You have to be 100% focused on the kids having a good time.... As long as you are prepared to come back in from wherever you are if they stop having fun ... you are good to go. 