I don't have any children of my own (yet :0) but I vividly remember what it was like for me fishing as a child. If I went 5 minutes without a bite, then watch out!

Kids' brutally short attention spans will get you every time...

When fishing with children a successful fishing trip usually means plenty of action. Most kids aren't concerned with catching the biggest striper or tuna. Kids just want constant and consistent action.

So if you routinely find yourself fishing with a bunch of little ones, with super short attention spans, then read on.

In this post I am going to share with you 3 Cape Cod fishing spots that are perfect for fishing with kids.

Cape Cod Bay | Mackerel Fishing

Mackerel fishing can be insane at times on Cape Cod Bay. If the macks show up thick you can easily catch 50 or more of them in just minutes.

The best action usually happens during the spring with the month of May being most ideal. Yet November can be spectacular as well, granted you can brave the cold.

In years past I have taken grown men out on charters, and they remarked that the most fun part of the entire trip was catching mackerel as bait. If you are fishing with someone who does not do much fishing, then they will be surprised how fast and furious the mackerel bite can be.

Gear And Technique

This is an ideal fishing scenario for kids and a freshwater/very light spinning rod. I highly recommend you use this particular 20 Pound Hayabusa Sabiki Rig because the line used to make this rig is strong enough to hoist mackerel into the boat.

Other rigs are made with poor quality fishing line and will break easily.

To catch mackerel:

• Add a small weight to the end of the sabiki rig
• Lower the rig into the water column to the depth at which the mackerel are holding
• Slowly jig the rig up and down

*You may want to consider cutting the sabiki rig in half, because it will make it easier for you to handle unhooking mackerel.

For example, if you have 5 kids fishing with full sabiki rigs and they all get full stringers of mackerel at the same time (which happens often) you will be dealing with many hooks, and fish, flopping all over your boat.

If you're at the helm your job will be to put the boat on top of the schools. You can read more about how to do that by reading this post.

Cape Cod Canal | Perch Fishing

The Cape Cod Canal has become famous for its striped bass and bluefish fishing. However many smaller fish inhabit the land cut and can be caught with relative ease by children.

I don't recommend bringing a gang of 7 years old down on the rip-rap. The rocks are sharp, slippery and treacherous.

The Best Canal Fishing Spots For Kids

Instead head to the Scusset Beach fish pier or the bulkhead at the Sandwich Marina. These spots will allow you to fish with relative ease, and drop a line vertically straight to the bottom.

The best time to fish will be an hour before, during and after the low tide slack. So on this Cape Cod Canal current table  you want to look for the time when the "Slack, Flood Begins."

Fish an hour before, during and after this time and you will avoid the strongest part of the tide - which will make fishing much easier.

The Canal is loaded, year round, with small brown fish that I have always called Perch. Other names such as Cunners and Bait Stealers all apply to this fish. They basically scour the bottom, and feed in schools whenever they find something edible.

Gear And Technique

To catch perch and other Canal bottom dwellers:

• Drop a sabiki rig tipped with small pieces of mackerel belly to the bottom
• Reel the rig up off the bottom one foot
• Wait for the small bites, nibbles and taps to begin

I recommend using mackerel belly because it's tough and will stay on the hook longer than sea worms, clams or any other bait I've tried. In addition you may also catch pollock, flounder and variety of other fish species including mackerel themselves.

Just be aware that many of these fish have sharp spines and small sharp teeth.

Buzzard's Bay | Sea Bass Fishing

The sea bass fishing on Cape Cod during 2013 was nothing short of epic. It doesn't matter much who you talk to, everyone was saying the same thing. The sea bass bite was just spectacular.

Best Spots And Bait

Buzzard's Bay is one of the better know places to target sea bass, however this season sea bass infiltrated Cape Cod Bay and even headed north to Plymouth, Duxbury and beyond.

Of course the usual Vineyard Sound and Nantucket Sound hot spots produced as well.

Small sea bass can be caught year round, and last year they could be caught in all of the above mentioned places from spring right on through fall. Finding and catching keeper size sea bass can sometimes be a challenge, but if you're fishing with kids that won't matter much since consistent action is all we're really looking for here.

For bait I'd recommend first trying skimmer clams if you can get them, then sea clams and then sea worms and squid. Small diamond style jigs can work, especially when tipped with bait.

Topwater Sea Bass Feeding Frenzies

An interesting thing that happened a few times during 2013 was top water sea bass feeding frenzies. One of our members, Ari Goldschneider posted in our forum about a topwater sea bass blitz he encountered during the spring of 2013.

Ari's been fishing Buzzard's Bay for 25 years and this was the first time he encountered sea bass feeding on the surface. Will this happen again in 2014? Well that is anyone's guess I suppose!

If you are logged into MFCC you can read Ari's topwater sea bass report by clicking here.

If you are not yet a My Fishing Cape Cod member, you can learn what membership entails by watching this free presentation.

What advice can you provide for fishing with kids? Let us know by commenting below.

Tight lines and take care,

Ryan