Hey Guys, As you may Know I'm a boy scout (Almost eagle scout) and Last thursday night one of my leaders who is also a cub scout den leader asked me to take his den fishing, I think its mostly 4th and 5th graders in the den. I'm taking them to some ponds a few blocks away from my house. The thing is I have no clue if they all have fishing rods that are spincasters, I have 8 spinning reels that I'm willing to lend to the. Also, I have a LOT of soft plastic and a lot of 3 and 4 inch senkos that I'm willing to make "Goody bags" with with a few hooks and a spool of line ( I have 8 110 yard berkley Fluorescent blue line), But I'm wondering if I should let them use night crawlers. Here were some of the things I was thinking of doing with them:

- Go about 30 minutes early and catch a few small bluegill, carp, and catfish to use as examples.

- Talk about what freshwater fish specie live in the ponds

- Hold a Q&A session

- Have a period of time where the kids can "Trade" baits from there Goody bags

-Talk rods, reels, lines, lures (Just the basics)

- Practice tying knots

It's going to run about 1 to hours..................

Get Nightcrawlers and small gold #1 hooks with the long shank.

The boy's attention span is short so you need for them to catch something.

You can show them how to tear up a Nightcrawler, put it on the hook and then cast.

You will need some red and white bobbers so they can see the bobber move when the fish take the Nightcrawlers.

And as you know, you can use a complete Nightcrawler and go for bass and cafish.

Have fun and good luck. You will have your hands full.

P.S. Don't forget your needle nose pliers for removing the hooks, especially the ones the fish swallow.

You have the ability to turn these kids onto fishing, or to make it unlikely they will want to fish again. Id throw night crawlers and be sure they catch a few apiece. They will look into artificial themselves later once they have the itch.

my $0.02

NGaHB

Agree with the above on the use of live bait. My preference for bobbers are the stick type that are more sensitive. You might ask the den leader about rods/reels if any of the scouts will be bringing ones from home. Be prepared to have enough rigs for each scout to have one though just in case. You'll probably be busy enough to not have one for you, but may want to make an offer to the leader.

If you're looking for an educational experience, ask the den leader if there is some part of the program that could be gone into. Other than that, I'd stress time fishing. At this age it is more important for them to enjoy.

TAKE ALONG A CAMERA! After the event, make a printout of the pictures to give to the den leader to hand out to the cub scouts to have for their own. Keep another set to put towards your requirements for that Eagle badge. Maybe post a few on here to boot!

I've been involved with Boys Scouts and Cub Scouts for 12 years as an Adult. I take them fishing all the time.

I always use bobbers, splitshot weights, and small bait hooks. (small hooks catch any fish)

You will need one container of worms per 2 boys and don't take a rod for yourself. You will be working to hard with them to fish.

You will also need some help. I like to have 1 adult per 4 boys. It's takes alot of hands to help them out.

You will need a camera.

Oh and take plenty of patients. You'll need it to.

Ok, I just found out I'm taking 8 scouts, 4 have rods

Oh and one more thing. Don't spend to much time talking. Put the rods in their hand and go fishing. They don't care what you have to say. They are there to fish.