If you're trying to convert your buddies to anglers, you've got to do it right.
While there are no guarantees with fishing, you should do your best to make the first-time fishing experience fun and memorable.
Here's how to introduce someone to fishing so they'll want to keep coming back for more.
1. Pick a Day with Perfect Conditions
For your friend's first time, be sure to choose a beautiful, balmy day rather than a cold and rainy one. Spending the day shivering in wet clothing will only convince them fishing probably isn't for them. But a picture-perfect morning in peak season will be enjoyable for everyone.
2. Take Them to Your Honey Hole
While many of us fish for the overall experience, a new angler is going to expect results and measure success as a full stringer or a day full of catch and release. So when you take someone fishing for the first time, head to a spot with healthy fish populations or your favorite well-stocked fishery.
And if you don't have a primo spot to take your friends and family members, consider splurging on a fishing guide who can provide the necessary gear and significantly up your odds.
3. Tailor the Experience
The idea of sitting on a lawn chair at the lake waiting for a bobber to move might sound incredibly relaxing to one person and mind-numbingly boring to another. You're gonna want to customize the angling experience.
Your buddy loves the mountains? Hike deep into a state park for some trout fishing. Your friends spend their weekends paddling? Hop in a kayak and teach them how to spincast. They're always up for a new challenge? Slip on some waders for a fly fishing lesson.
4. Cook up a Fishy Feast
I used to equate seafood with the freezer-burnt fish sticks I ate as a kid, and odds are many of your non-fishing friends might too. Blow that notion out of the water with the ultimate field to table meal. Grill up some fresh fillets or host a catfish fry with all your buddies. If food is the way to their heart, you just might win them over to fishing.
If they're still on the fence about even trying it and don't want to spend the money, take them out on a free fishing day. Many states offer these events each year, allowing anyone to hit the water without a fishing license.
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