Taking some cub scouts fishing

[tomas]

Folks-

I'm on the hook to come up with some activities for a cub scout troop doing a day hike in mid-November. The place we are "hiking" is private land in Maryland with a stocked pond that contains bass, crappies and bluegills. I'm thinking about having one of the activities be fishing, but I don't want the kids to get overly bored if the fishing doesn't produce.

So, let me have your opinions. Would this work or would the water be too cold for significant activity to keep a 5-7 year old interested? I'm thinking of bobbers with plastic grubs, or would you suggest worms?

[bc1]

I took my grandson, who just turned 6, to a private pond a couple of weeks back. The fish bit the whole time he fished. He was good with it for about an hour, and that was an hour of staying busy, and the was ready to go home and show his trophies to his mom and dad. Fished with bobber and crickets. Caught all bluegills. We both had a great time and he is ready to go again. Don't know how interested you will be able to keep them if there's no bite...but if there is, you will see a lot of big smiles on some little faces.

[fishintiger]

I would try night crawlers, crickets, meal worms, or wax worms. If the fish don't cooperate maybe you can explain to them some of the factors that help or hurt fishing (i.e. cold fronts, storms) Maybe even have some different lures and baits for them to look at or even different types of rod/reel combos. Make it more than just a fishing trip. If you have time make like a little board that shows the different types of fish that are present or could be present in the pond. Good luck. I hope the fish cooperate.