Sarley: The best local places for short attention span fishing
I got an email from a reader that I think is something that a lot of people would like getting an answer to. Here is an edited version of our conversation.
“Hi, Steve, I am a loyal follower of your articles that appear in the Daily Herald on Thursdays. In fact, I just finished today’s on live bait.
“Here is my dilemma. I live in the (Northwest) suburbs of Chicago. My granddaughter of 4 wants me to take her fishing. I am looking for a place that can yield some panfish for a person with a short attention span.
“Any ideas would be helpful.
“Thanks, Mike Malek — a desperate grandfather.”
I responded: “I am sorry that I did not respond to you right away. I think that it is great that you are introducing your grandchild to the sport. I don't have a specific spot for you. I am sure there are hundreds near you.
“The kind of place you are looking for is the kind of place that most people will drive right past. Most people will avoid any place that has nothing but small fish that will only steal your bait, but that is exactly what you and I are looking for when we take the little ones out for some angling recreation.
“I take my granddaughter to a small pond behind a CVS on Randall Road in the far Western suburbs. There are four other ponds within a couple of blocks and no one fishes here because the fish are too small. I swear that I have never seen anyone fishing here.
“She catches a bluegill on every cast, I am not exaggerating. We fish until she says she is tired of catching fish. It doesn't take long. Granted, they are only 2½-inch to 3-inch gills, but she has a ball. If I was fishing alone, I wouldn’t consider wasting my time here. I am doing it for her, not for me.
“I used to take my niece to the pond at North Side Park in Wheaton. Same thing. And nobody ever fished there. We’d catch tiny bluegill after tiny bluegill until we ran out of worm pieces. We fished in the shallow lily pads.
“The fishing for itself was not really memorable, but the experience shared will always be remembered. I hope these times will be remembered by my niece and granddaughter as well.
“There are many places that you can go to fish with a young one that will be just as productive as these places are. It’s probably best to pick ponds where nobody is fishing. Just look for tiny ponds that you can see have weeds in them. The ponds don’t have to be big or deep to hold fish. You can throw out a handful of bread crumbs to look for activity. Not a lot, just a few. Little gills will start popping up at the crumbs before you know it.
“Just make sure you are using tiny hooks like No. 8 or No. 10, and 4-pound test is the absolute heaviest line you should use. Small Thill balsa floats work best to help show kids the bites.
“I hate hearing that people take kids out fishing as a lesson in patience. I realize it takes patience to get on a good pile of big walleyes, but that is not what I am talking about. Kids can learn patience at school. Fishing is meant to be fun at that young age. Patience will make fishing nothing but boring and they won’t want to go again. I’d rather hear kids say that they are tired of catching fish than that they are bored. Wouldn’t you?
“Good luck and let me know how you do.”
• Daily Herald Outdoors columnist Steve Sarley can be reached at sarfishing@yahoo.com.