Man I love giving lures to kids. There's not much better than handing a lure or small piece of kit to kids fishing the ponds. It's never anything big but the smiles I get in return sure are.

This one time I came upon these two boys trying to unhook this little panfish. It wasn't gut hooked, but it's mouth was so small they couldn't get the hook out. I could tell both they and the fish were stressing. I used my hemostats to free the fish and then gave them to the boys. Those hemostats cost $2.50 and you would have thought I gave them diamonds. Try it sometime.

When I ran my fishing program for kids at my old hotel I gave out spinnerbaits and a certificate of achievement to each participant.

HS teacher here-when I worked in rural schools I gave away tons of soft plastics that I poured. In lots of cases, they weren't even in my class, but word travels. Mondays were the best, kids would pop in to show me what they caught over the weekend. Those were good times.

It's a great thing to do!

My buddy and I were camping and a young kid and his father were camping next to us.

They came over to talk to us as they saw our kayaks and fishing rods.

They had kayaks and the kid was really interested in fishing, dad said he wasn't a fisherman and really didn't know what to do.

We had fished a small lake within the campground and just caught a bunch of pickerel.

Kid said he never had caught a pickerel, I gave him a handful of small paddle tailed swimbaits on jig heads, told him where to go and what to look for.

They came back later and the kid told us he got 3 pickerel, you could see the excitement on his face.

Bravo! @MontanaBasser and others!

Nice to share when you can. Over the years of going through my fishing gear, I’ve cleaned up the useable stuff and offered it to those who could use it.

I bought a number of the low cost Zebco fishing rods to associate with the various reels that I’m not personally using. I’ll take them with me when I go fishing. If there is a family out there sharing a rig, I’ll offer to get them setup with another rig. This way the gear is not collecting dust and still has good use with a new person.

At the beginning of last fall, there was a young family that was sharing a single fishing rig. So I paused to go back to the vehicle and brought several of my setups for each family member. Pretty soon they were tied into fish and it was great to hear the excitement.

A few weeks later, I returned to meet up again. The father told me they caught a nice 3 pound catfish on one of the rigs. We all enjoyed a good smile from it.

Nice to elevate joy and get more folks to enjoy angling. Be well, Cheers!

@MontanaBasser Great post!

Bear with me as I've got a short story to tell;

I was in Viet Nam in 1969. We used to visit a Montagnard village frequently. The older people were on the shy side but the kids were not. There was a lake nearby and the villagers got plenty of fish with nets and spears. I had my wife send me some fishing line and a bunch of crappie jigs, would cut some limbs for poles, and I showed those kids how to flip the jigs into the holes in the weeds and catch fish. It was as much fun for me as it was for those kids. A laughing child is a laughing child no matter where you're at!

A couple years back our local HS fishing club had a car wash fundraiser. I rounded up a bunch of lures I hadn’t used and dropped them off. You would’ve thought they hit the lottery! They were so appreciative.

When I worked for the rod and reel repair shop we always donated to just about every kid fishing club in Florida. We always collected up a pile of old rods and reels just for the kids. Lures, line, the works.

But in my house I have a 12 year old son who is really into fishing right now. And the lure situation is kind of funny to watch.

Look, I plundered my dad's stuff and now its my turn to be plundered! We have a half dozen tackle boxes with lures doing the tackle box shuffle all the time.

Just last night my son was plundering my dad's old tackle box. He's been gone since 2009 so he won't mind half of his lures sliding over into my son's tackle box this morning. And then he hit up his brother's tackle box. He don't care to fish so he does not even need a tackle box right now so its getting emptied out.

And my son keeps digging around in my tackle box as well. Lately he has been plundering my rat'l traps taking the best of them.

And you know, I don't say a word about it. I just smile. Go for it kid! All my fishing stuff is going to be yours one day anyways! And if I ever need anything I know right where it is, in his tackle box. No problem.

And it seems like every time I take him to a bait and tackle store I am always buying him new lures and other fishing items. Every time. Right now he thinks popping bobbers with shrimp for snook and reds is the hot way to go now. 12 years old and quickly catching up to all my PB's. His snook PB is now 31 inches and closing in fast. Oh, and at 12 he is already searching for his first boat. He wants me to drive him across Florida to go look at an old Boston Whaler boat and trailer.

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Changing gears to another lure story...

Last year a buddy of mine showed up to a boat ramp and found a small boy there fishing. As we put the boat in we paid attention to him and what he was doing. And it was not very good at all.

So while I am driving trailer to park it, my fishing buddy starts bank fishing with the kid. He hooks into a 3.5 pound bass and reels it in as I walk down to the ramp.

That kid's eyes were as wide as saucers. And he said there are fish that big in this lake? We said bigger. Much bigger. Some carp reach upwards of 40 pounds.

The kid had a small bream sized hook and some old rubber worm he had found laying on the ground there suspended underneath a small bobber with only about a foot of line between hook and bobber. We knew he was not going to catch anything like that.

So both of us put off our fishing trip so we could work with this fatherless kid wanting to fish. We both opened up our tackle boxes to show him what we use and why and how, and we both gave the kid a handful of lures to try and suggested he learn bass fishing from youtube videos.

We did all we could to uplift that boy and improve his fishing experience. He was thrilled to receive them and learn how its done and we went about our way never to see him again. But hopefully we made a small positive impact on him and his fishing to come.

Who knew humans can bond over a piles of lures? They collect dust in one man's box, and open up the world to a small boy's ambition and desires.

If that boy's mother or parent(s) had been present at the boat ramp on that day with their child, we would have offered to take him fishing in the boat which I think really would have opened up his fishing world a lot more than we did on that day.

4 hours ago, Lottabass said:

@MontanaBasser Great post!

Bear with me as I've got a short story to tell;

I was in Viet Nam in 1969. We used to visit a Montagnard village frequently. The older people were on the shy side but the kids were not. There was a lake nearby and the villagers got plenty of fish with nets and spears. I had my wife send me some fishing line and a bunch of crappie jigs, would cut some limbs for poles, and I showed those kids how to flip the jigs into the holes in the weeds and catch fish. It was as much fun for me as it was for those kids. A laughing child is a laughing child no matter where you're at!

Welcome home brother…

I pulled the little jon boat in with a limit of under the slot bass and two little boys wanted to know how to catch some. I gave them some 1/8th oz jig heads and and a couple dozen half dingers and told them exactly where to use them at. I dont know if they caught any or not but they were ready to .

I pour my own baits and airbrush hard baits I always have an abundance of both I. My boat. When I come in at the end of the day, if there’s a kid in a boat, I’ll ask the parent if it’s ok to give him/her some baits. I always ask first. Some people don’t like strangers approaching their kids. I let them choose the baits they want. They usually get a couple 50 packs for their future trips.

@Lottabass sent my fishing buddy, the Kid, a whole box of lures!

I love your Vietnam story, Al.

Once every couple of years, I cull through what I've accumulated and start filling a box with all the "it seemed like a good idea at the time" baits that I either bought and didn't use, didn't like or just didn't fit the way I fish and haul that box over to a pond not far from the house that a lot of kids fish at, set the box on a picnic table by the dock and let them have at it. Easier than a yard sale and I think the bait's go to a better purpose.

DON'T!

DANGER, DANGER, DANGER!

Yesterday, I was fishing at one of several small ponds near my house.

Across the road was another. Two small boys rode up on bikes and started fishing the other pond. I have been stymied by extremely hot weather, so I was fishing ultra light for bluegill to try and get something on the line. Then, things went out of control.

I caught 3 bluegill in short order. Instantly, I had two small boys by my side casting.

They were using large lures for bass so I gave them some of what I was using. They started catching bluegill. And talking, and talking, and talking, mostly about how their dads caught bigger fish than I did. I wished them luck and left.

Seeking peace and quiet, I left for another pond a bit away; a secret pond. Not that folks don't know it exists but don't know how good it is and it is not as easy to access.

Three minutes later two small boys show up on bicycles (yes, the same two boys). I was striking out. They, using my lures, started catching bass. As I walked away muttering like the grouchy old man I am they offered to teach me how to fish.

And now, it is summer vacation and they will be there every day.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Great Topic. When we moved to our new place I donated a lot of Lures and rods and reels to a local Boy Scouts to help the kids out. It’s nice to see our sport grow.