Seriously, kids are fishy. Photo: Mike Duffy

One of the best parts about being in the outdoor industry is having the opportunity to host family groups at awesome locations. We absolutely love having kids around, and watching the experiences that family groups have together couldn’t be more gratifying. Fathers, daughters, sons, mothers, uncles, grandparents and more – we’ve seen it all and we love it.

We get a lot of questions from people looking to take their kids fishing, so here’s a little primer.

Where Should We Go?

As far as our lodges are concerned, unless your child is a passionate steelheader or bonefish angler, you should probably go to Alaska. Here’s why:

• The fishery on the Kanektok is extremely productive. Catch rates are high. For the majority of the season, less-experienced anglers can certainly catch fish every day, and usually lots of ‘em. When you’re fishing with kids, catching is pretty important.
• The Kanektok also has lots of variety. If Mom likes hunting giant rainbows around snags (a fairly challenging fishery), but Son wants to hammer bright silvers (which takes less skill), both can easily happen in the same day. There really is something for everyone.
• The crew in Alaska loves fishing with kids. They love their energy, their curiosity, and the speed with which they learn. They’ve hosted lots of kids, and know what works with them and what doesn’t. Besides, kids tend to be really ‘fishy’!
• Logistics are easy. Travel is simple. Boat rides are short. Wading is a piece of cake.

How Old is Old Enough?

It really depends on the kid, but we find that for destination lodge trips, somewhere between 10 and 12 is probably the age at which most kids are ready for a trip. It’s mainly a function of attention span – our fishing programs are built around long days (10 hours of fishing at Alaska West), and if your daughter decides at 10am on day two that she’d rather be someplace else, you’re the one who’s going to have a tough trip. Strength, skill and ability to stay safe tend to be a lot less important than attention span, and you know your kid’s attention span better than anyone.

Tips for Fishing with Kids

• You’re doing a wonderful thing for your family when you takes your kid(s) to a fishing lodge. Keep that in mind when you plan your day – it’s about them, not about you! There’s plenty of incredible fishing to be had, so resist the temptation to fish where and how you want to. Build most of your days around what the kids want to do, and everyone will be a lot happier. Don’t worry – you’re going to catch a bunch of great fish regardless.
• Be safe! We very strongly recommend lifejackets for kids. Wading belts are a must, as are lectures about safe wading practices. We pride ourselves on providing a very safe enviroment for kids, but even so, don’t forget that you’re way out in the middle of nowhere…and be safe.
• At the same time, give the kids some latitude! Resist the temptation to hover. Our guides are great with kids – wander off on your own while your grandson has a fun hour with your guide. Let them experiment – kids can be incredibly intuitive anglers, and you might be surprised how successful they can be on their own.
• Put some time into your travel logistics, keeping the kids in mind. Consider breaking long travel days into a couple of days with some stops along the way. Ask in advance for hotel and restaurant recommendations along the way that work well for kids.

The most important thing isn’t where you go, it’s that you go. Take your kids fishing!

This post by Deneki

See the original article at GotHunts.com

Cameron, hard at work. Photo: Ric Fogel/Sportfolio

Cameron Miller is a long-time veteran of Alaska West. He spent a bunch of years guiding and taking pictures, and the past few years has made the transition into nearly full-time photography. If you’re headed to Alaska West this summer, you’ll see slideshows from Cameron at the beginning and the end of your week, and you’ll leave camp with a DVD packed with pictures from your week. Not a bad memento!

Cameron gives a great presentation on how to take hero shots (the classic angler-with-fish pose), and we asked him to summarize his tips in a post.

We now present Cameron Miller on ‘Capturing the Moment’.

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13 for 13. Photo: Cameron Miller

1. Read this list and then have fishing buddies read it. You may know how to get a decent fish pic, but the fact is that you’ve gotta hold the fish while your pal takes the photo.

2. Take a deep breath and calm down. After the excitement of a good fight and the disbelief that you landed a hog, the first instinct of most anglers is to dive into the net and touch the fish. Rushing into the handling of the fish most often leads to a bad case of “Oh-crap-itis.”

3. Tidy yourself up. After a second to catch your breath, give yourself a good once-over. You want to make sure that you look good for the photo so try to have all your zippers up, your pockets closed, and your wader pouch tucked in.

4. Prepare the camera. While you are busy making yourself pretty, have the photographer turn on the camera and make sure the settings are correct. If it is your camera, prepare it for the photographer so that all they have to do is frame you and the fish and push the shutter release button.
5. Get in position. You want to look comfortable when you are holding the fish, so try to avoid awkward positions (such as standing hunched-over trying to hold the fish and look at the camera). The easiest position is to take a knee in about six to eight inches of water.

6. Determine where the sun/light is. Generally you want the sun or the strongest light that is filtering through the clouds behind the photographer. Try to have even light on the angler’s face and on the fish, and if possible frame the shot with a darker background. If the light is strong like with mid-day sun, the fish is going to be by far the brightest object in the frame. Try to hold the fish so that the light reflects off of it with the shallowest angle possible – that is to say have the sun off to the left or right side and not directly behind the photographer.

7. Determine the fish’s good side. Before handling the fish, determine which side of the fish should be presented towards the camera. Obviously you want the side that looks the prettiest and has the fewest scars or marks on it (although sometimes a scar or deformity makes the photo memorable). Usually the mouth and the position of the fly are the most important parts of this equation.

8. Look comfortable. You can always tell the guys who have handled lots of fish because they look like that fish should be in their hands. Try to be comfortable and confident. Smile or don’t smile, look at the camera or look at the head of the fish. It doesn’t really matter – just try not to have the deer-in-the-headlights look.

9. Handle the fish with care. Fish that are being squeezed look like their eyes are going to pop out and their mouths look like they are going to projectile vomit. With a proper grip there is no reason to squeeze the fish.

10. Hide the fingers, leader, and fly line. Try to present as much of the fish as possible to camera. Avoid grips that hide the fish behind fingers and hands. Also, be conscious of where the leader and fly line are and make sure they are not crossing between the camera and fish.

11. Keep the fish close to the water. I believe that fish look more natural close to their home (the water) and that they only need to be lifted out of the water a few inches for a good photo. If the light is good, such as in the early morning or late evening, the reflection of the fish in the water is often present and can add a lot to the photo. Always take photos above water in case the fish is dropped, and avoid completely outstretched arms as if you were a five year old showing off an ice cream cone.

12. Fill the frame. The important things in a hero shot are the angler and the fish. Therefore you want them to fill the frame with just a little bit of the background around the edges to provide spacing. What you don’t want is a scenery shot that has an indiscernible blob of angler and fish in the very center of it.

13. Be quick. Even though this list of tips is long, the process of photographing a fish should be quick. The fish just fought for its life and is stressed and oxygen-deprived. It is not fair to torture it even more just to get a decoration for you desk. Keep the fish in the water until the moment everybody is ready to take the picture. Take a quick picture or two and then put it back in the water and revive it until it swims out of your hand. If the photographer is quick, he can often get a good picture of the revival/release process.

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One last note on reviving fish – in rivers, a fish must be pointed upstream for it to breathe properly. I’m surprised at how many people don’t know this.

With these tips in mind, your next close encounter of the lunker kind will get a photo that not only shows that you are an angler that gets results, but that you look good while you are doing it.

Cheers!

This post by Deneki Outdoors

See the original article at GotHunts.com

My Fist Lion

Clancy Sayer

One day towards the end of January, my dad woke me up earlier than usual and informed me that his friend Mike was looking for lion tracks and wanted me to go hunt with him. I immediately replied “YES!” I hurried and changed into my long johns and wool pants, then headed out to the truck. My brother and sister thought it was unfair that I got to hunting while they had to go to school so my dad let them go with us too

It seemed like it took forever to get to our destination, especially because it was my first lion hunt and if I was lucky my first big game animal. We finally found mike who had cut a female with a large tom following. We decided to let the hounds go (Trapper, Jess, Exploder, Clyde and Tobey.) It was very exciting, Mike showed Jess the track and she let out a big bawl and took off after the lion. We traveled from place to place around the mountain in the trucks trying to figure out where the dogs were heading. We came to a canyon where we thought the dogs headed to. My brother, sister and I stayed with my dad while Mike and his friend Brandon went up to look for the dogs. I swear we sat there for three hours. Finally they reported back to my dad on the radio that the dogs went over the ridge and headed for the top of the mountain.

We drove to another spot on the mountain and got a good signal on the dogs; they had been in the same spot for awhile and Mike thought they might be treed. We drove as far as we could up the canyon. Mike and Brandon took our four- wheeler up the road and the rest of us started to walk. We walked a little ways and then Brandon came to save us on the four- wheeler. He told me and my dad to take it and drive up to a spot where he left his stuff then follow the tracks up the mountain while he helped my brother and sister catch up. So my dad and I did just that. The hill was steep; when we finally got to the tree the mountain lion was in, he got nervous and decided to jump. It wasn’t that hard for him considering the tree he was in was quite short. The dogs were tied up so we had to hurry and let them go. Read the rest of the story in the kids section of the Premier Issue….

See the original article at Ultimate Predator Magazine