Offshore Fishing with Kids in the Florida Keys — Marathon, FL Fishing Charters with Capt. Jeff Rella

One of the many reasons the Florida Keys are among the world’s premier fishing destinations is that no matter the wind and wave direction, there’s almost always somewhere we can fish in relatively protected waters. It might be patch reefs a few miles from shore on the ocean side; it might be banks or wrecks on the Gulf side; it might be highway bridges; it might even be flats edges or mangrove shorelines in the backcountry.

That also makes the Keys a great place for family charter fishing. We can catch hard-fighting, good-eating fish 15 minutes from the dock virtually any day of the year, opening up saltwater fishing to young kids and others who aren’t ready for long boat rides or rough water. Yellowtail, mangrove, lane and smaller mutton snappers; small groupers; Spanish and cero mackerel; and barracuda, jacks and sharks are all common catches.

In short, the answer to the question, “Can I take kids fishing in the Florida Keys?” is a resounding YES!

A Bigger Commitment

But what about taking kids offshore fishing, beyond the reef on the ocean side to target pelagic gamefish like tuna and mahi, bottom bruisers like mutton snapper and black grouper, or deep dwellers like queen snapper and snowy grouper? Or far out into the Gulf to fish wrecks for grouper, snapper, cobia, permit, African pompano and more?

With longer runs, generally rougher water, and bigger, stronger fish, offshore fishing with kids is definitely a bigger commitment than inshore/nearshore fishing, and it’s probably not a good choice for a child’s first saltwater fishing experience. That being said, adventurous kids as young as 4 or 5 who have a little bit of fishing and boating time under their belts can have a great time offshore. In fact, we love taking kids offshore!

A little bit of planning and a few tips can help to ensure that your kids have a great time offshore. Here are some things to keep in mind:

If Your Kids Have Their Own Life Jackets, Bring Them

Any reputable charter will have child and youth life jackets, but if your kids have their own life jackets that they’re comfortable in, bring them along.

In Florida, children under 6 are required to wear a life jacket while underway on any boat under 26 feet. Even though Superfish is 34 feet long, we still strongly encourage kids to wear life jackets while traveling and fishing.

We keep Child size life jackets (30 - 50 lbs.) and Youth size life jackets (50 - 90 lbs.) on board. Any other reputable charter boat should also provide appropriately sized life jackets. But, if your kids have life jackets of their own that they’re accustomed to and comfortable in, by all means, bring them. Anything that makes a new experience more familiar and comfortable is a positive.

Bring Plenty of Drinks and Snacks — and Use Them

A well-timed treat like an ice cold soda can help redirect kids in case they get bored, tired or uncomfortable on a long trip.

You might be good to fish all day on a bag of beef jerky and two bottles of water, but your kids definitely aren’t. Bring along a good variety of foods and drinks they like, not just to keep them from being hungry or thirsty but to keep them busy. Depending on your kids’ ages, you might even consider bringing a few special treats to help redirect them in case they get bored, scared, tired, etc. If seasickness is a concern (more on that below) avoid greasy, spicy or heavy foods.

It’s also important to remember to make sure those drinks and snacks get consumed. When the fishing action is fast and everybody is excited, it’s easy for kids — and adults, for that matter — to simply forget to eat and drink or to put it off until later. If your kids are young, make it a priority to pay attention and keep them hydrated and fueled up.

Introduce Gear and Techniques Before a Hookup

If it’s your kids’ first offshore charter fishing trip, chances are that some or all of the gear will be unfamiliar. They might be accustomed to spinning reels but not conventional. Or they might know how star drags work but not lever drags.

Take time before the first hookup to familiarize kids with the tackle they’ll be using. Larger rods and reels can be awkward for younger children, but slip on pads for rod butts make fighting fish more comfortable.

Whether it’s you or the charter captain, somebody should make sure your kids know what to do when they hook up. Go over not just handling the rod and reel but also what to do when a fish comes boatside. Pay special attention to safety concerns — like not trying to slow a spinning spool with your thumb, for example. Always err on the side of giving too much information, rather than not enough.

Speaking of gear, on our charters we carry padded foam knobs that slip over the butts of our rods, making it so kids can comfortably brace the rod butt against their belly or thigh when fighting a fish. Because adult-size rods can be awkward for younger kids to manage, some kind of adaptation like this can be extremely helpful. It’s worth asking your charter captain ahead of time if they have padded butts, lightweight fighting belts or other tools to make it easier for kids to fight strong fish.

Keep Kids Interested by Giving them Jobs

Kids are happiest when they’re involved in the whole process of fishing and feel like part of the team, rather than just reeling in a fish when someone hands them a rod.

Children are happiest when they have a job and feel like they’re part of the operation. Charter captains who are good with kids know this and involve kids by giving them responsibilities like watching the fishfinder for structure or fish, shaking the chum bag, watching the sky for birds, reporting breaking fish, or another age-appropriate task. If your captain doesn’t do it, you can too.

The fact is that if you’re not really part of the process of finding and catching fish, offshore fishing — just like other kinds of fishing — can get a little boring. In other words, if you’re just sitting there passing the time until someone hands you a rod with a fish on the other end, you probably aren’t going to have a great time. The same is even more true of kids, yet that’s how we too often treat them on fishing boats. Keep kids involved as much as possible between bites.

Be Willing to Change the Plan if Necessary

There’s a time and place for hardcore, damn-the-torpedoes fishing — for sticking to the game plan no matter what the conditions are — but a kid’s first trip offshore isn’t it. With kids on board, you need to be ready to alter the plan if conditions require, at least for their first trips. Ensuring that those first few trips aren’t boring, scary or uncomfortable is critical. If you’re halfway to the Gulf Stream in a three-foot wind chop and you’ve got a scared or queasy kid, make the call proactively to do something different before it’s too late.

Remember There’s More to a Trip Offshore than Just Fishing

Sure, catching fish is the main reason you shell out the considerable amount of money for an offshore charter trip, but don’t forget that for kids (and adults) who’ve never been offshore in a small boat before, there’s lots of amazing stuff to see. Completely aside from fishing, the open ocean is a spectacular wilderness full of life and beauty. Show kids dolphins, birds, jellies, flying fish, current slicks, cloud formations, and all of the thousand other things they won’t encounter anywhere else.

Keep the Action Fast if Possible

When fishing with kids, quantity generally trumps quality. Live bait tuna fishing at the Marathon Hump usually provides fast, exciting action.

You might be happy to tolerate hours without a bite for a shot at a new species or personal best. But your kid isn’t. By and large, kids don’t care whether it’s a mahi or a barracuda on the other end of the line; they’re just excited to be fighting a fish. Obviously, it’s not always possible to hook a fish every five minutes, but, given a choice, do with quantity over quality. Out of Marathon and the middle Keys, blackfin tuna fishing at the Marathon Hump is a great option for kids. With live chum, we can usually get the tuna biting fast and furious.

Think Ahead of Time about How They’ll Use the Bathroom

Some Keys charter boats have full functioning heads — enclosed bathrooms with flush toilets and sinks — but most center console charters have a portable toilet under the console. Or a bucket. Or nothing. That doesn’t bother most boys at all; they’re happy to pee over the side or back of the boat. But if you have a child who isn’t going to be comfortable peeing over the rail or in a bucket on deck, make sure you come up with a game plan before it becomes urgent.

Take Positive Steps to Prevent Motion Sickness

According to the Mayo Clinic, kids ages 2 to 12 are especially susceptible to motion sickness. All of the usual common sense advice applies:

Feed them a light, bland breakfast the morning of your trip (think fruits, toast and juice), and avoid greasy, heavy or spicy foods the day before.
If your child starts to feel queasy or even complains of being tired or sleepy, do whatever you can to keep them sitting or standing upright with fresh air in their face and a view of the horizon. In most cases, staring downward or sitting or lying on deck makes matters worse.
Small amounts of cold drinks — particularly Sprite/7-Up and ginger ale — seem to help once queasiness starts.
Distraction — especially in the form of excitement — works wonders. Fighting a good fish is a miracle cure.
Over-the-counter medications do help in most cases, but the side effects can be significant in some kids. Dramamine makes a child version, and diphenhydramine (the active ingredient in Benadryl) also works. Like adults, though, kids are affected differently by the drowsiness that comes along with antihistamines. Of course, your kid would probably rather sleep all day than barf all day, but, unless you already know your child is prone to motion sickness, save the antihistamines for a last resort.

Finally, and Above All, Have Fun!

Whether or not you’re relaxed and having fun is one of the biggest factors in whether kids have fun offshore fishing. Take it easy, share their excitement, and be ready to alter the plan if necessary.

One of the biggest factors in whether your kids have fun on their offshore fishing charter is whether you have fun. Go into it with the mindset that you might not get to do exactly the kind of fishing you want to do and that that’s okay. Be ready to make changes as needed without getting frustrated.

If you have any questions about bringing your own children fishing offshore, please give us a call. We’ve taken thousands of kids fishing over the years. In fact, we have some clients who first fished with as kids decades ago and now bring their own kids fishing.