Best 1/2 Day Boat for kids near Los Angeles?
- Thread starter Fishing Timmy
- Start date
Kids will have more fun screwing around with the squid than fishing I bet. Should be a blast. Bring a deck of cards and post up in the galley if they start getting bored during the boat ride, Never fails to entertain when I take my grandkids
“This is a boat and people smoke on it” .
This is absolutely not a “kid-friendly” boat for .
Captain Danny was great. Friendly and hel
and Eric the deckhand was 10/10 service.
Super helpful with the kids and absolutely the best part
thanks for the advice
This is absolutely not a “kid-friendly” boat for .
Captain Danny was great. Friendly and hel
and Eric the deckhand was 10/10 service.
Super helpful with the kids and absolutely the best part
thanks for the advice
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They catch lots of fish, but he did say he wanted to take some home to cook and the 12 inch calicos that make up 90% of the catch just can’t be taken home.
Maybe a friend or a BDr with a boat would be a better trip for you and kids.
Less variables.
More effort for the kids having fun.
Dan Hernandez comes to mind for a good private chartered trip.
Less variables.
More effort for the kids having fun.
Dan Hernandez comes to mind for a good private chartered trip.
Also at this age I should just start dumping the $$ into SCUBA lessons and a skiff. These boys really like surfing and diving.
but yeah, I don’t understand employees smoking near kids..........
Pretty much the norm for deckhands to have a cig in their mouth 24/7. Going to be hard to find a local boat with non smokers.
I like to take youngsters fishing. You can't do more than hope for the fish to be cooperative. I've found that the boats with the largest galley spaces are really an advantage. The Monte Carlo, for instance. Fish for an hour, go to galley and have them sit and eat something, go back to fishing. Bringing something home to cook up is a great thing, but when I want to do that I take them over to Santa Ana River Lakes and put them into Huckleberry Pond and buy them each a couple of fat rainbow trout. In salt water, I have found that a good sabiki rig on light spin gear is about as close to a guarantee of a good time as a kid could hope for.
I think it's really about how you as the parent act on the boat, rather than if the boat is kid friendly or not. The truth is, most boats are kid friendly, as kids are the future customers of this sport. My son has a pretty outgoing personality, and makes quick friends with the deckhands, and they always look after him. Some good local boats for kids in my opinion are the Redondo Special, the Triton, and the SportKing. I know there are others out there that do a fine job as well. What would really be beneficial for the youth would be to bring back the fishing barges, like the one that used to be in Redondo. As a youngster I learned some essential skills for fishing on sport boats, including how to hook live baits effectively, how to then fly line them, and even knot tying. The low pressure atmosphere of that barge (and to a lesser extent, the Long Beach bay barge) really helped in my development. One of the big problems I am having as a father is teaching how to fly line baits. It seems most half day boats are fishing on the bottom, which I totally understand. But, when we do go out on 3/4 day, or full day boats where we are fly lining bait, I end up hooking and handing because he is not confident enough, and because of the hustle and bustle. It's just nature the of the game, but, this year I'm going to make an effort to make him more independent, and let him make mistakes.
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Personally, the boat I've had the worst experience ever taking my younger brother and his buddies out was the Betty-O. Maybe we caught the deckhands on the wrong day but they were just rude and angry the whole day.
Just drive the extra 30- 60 min to head up to Oxnard. Better quality fish and many friendly, helpful deckhands.
Just drive the extra 30- 60 min to head up to Oxnard. Better quality fish and many friendly, helpful deckhands.
Yes!! I absolutely agree. Why doesn't a landing start a barge, and Redondo is a great place, over the canyon. I didn't have a Dad (he was killed in a car accident), but I learned fishing on the Redondo barge. Like you said. cheap ($3) lots of room, and no pressure. It was a slow process, but I asked questions of the "older" men, and eventually learned the skills needed on the 1/2 and 3/4 boats.
Is there a financial reason that no one will do the barge thing? Man, it was a lot of fun as a kid. [Aside: was it called the Sacremento?]
Would be so awesome to have a barge, I wonder how much $$ in bribery you would have to pay between the coastal commission and the governor. Probably not gonna happen again
just purchased a bunch of tickets for next year on some Orange County boats, even some for me to fish alone.
If it were not for my negative run-in with a rude smoking galley employee, I definitely would go back on the New Del Mar, the other fishermen on the boat were very polite and helpful, much more than the 15 employees
***Capt and deckhand were excellent***
As a dad who fishes across So Cal with his teenage kid, I'll throw another vote for Dana Wharf. Lots of kids on their half day boats, too many at times. Positive crew members and generally mellow passengers are the norm.
Although, if smoking crew and passengers are your issue, there's no real answer other than private charters.
Although, if smoking crew and passengers are your issue, there's no real answer other than private charters.
I bought a few tickets for Dana Wharf already so happy to hear.
“Although, if smoking crew and passengers are your issue, there's no real answer other than private charters”
I have a lot of issues, but yes, politely asking employees of a business I’m dropping 100$s on to not smoke near my children is definitely one of them.
I have a great private charter in San Diego, my boys eat so much sushi when i get back it’s silly.
Not a half day boat though.
just trying to get them on the water more around here.
thanks for your input.
“Although, if smoking crew and passengers are your issue, there's no real answer other than private charters”
I have a lot of issues, but yes, politely asking employees of a business I’m dropping 100$s on to not smoke near my children is definitely one of them.
I have a great private charter in San Diego, my boys eat so much sushi when i get back it’s silly.
Not a half day boat though.
just trying to get them on the water more around here.
thanks for your input.
Dana Point has a December special Kid free with 2 paying adults. Fun times but catching something for dinner this time of year is another story.
Buy a boat = problem solved. Your going to be hard pressed to find crew or passengers not smoking on a boat!!!
