Beach/family fishing trip

[Stocker]

So we had a trip planned for May, the people we were going with backed out. We have until January to book new flights before we lose them.

So I immediately decided to take my family deep sea fishing. My wife reminded me that every time I plan any adventure the only person that enjoys it is me, the kids are crying, our lives are at risk, and she’s looking for a divorce lawyer.

So all that said my son is 9 and daughter is 6. Son and I love fishing, wife really likes it but doesn’t want to plan a vacation completely around it. We aren’t really eat at fancy joints and big city people. More of hop in the car and find cool places and good hole on the wall restaurants.

So I know it’s a lot to combine, but a day or 2 of fishing inshore or offshore, a day or 2 of exploring around, and a day or 2 of bumming it on the beach.

Any suggestions? Will kids be able to handle fishing offshore? Right now I’m thinking of Myrtle Beach, Savanah GA, Destin FL, Mobile AL. Not against anything on the east coast of Florida but we’ve been all along it. Been to Corpus/ Port Aransas, fished but didn’t hire a charter.

It certainly doesn’t have to be a perfect trip. Anything short of my wife divorcing me and my kids resenting me the rest of their lives would be considered a success.

 

[Nick87]

My wife reminded me that every time I plan any adventure the only person that enjoys it is me, the kids are crying, our lives are at risk, and she’s looking for a divorce lawyer.

I planned the same trip last year. Curious why not take the wife to the beach in Utah?

 

[mdunc8]

I spent a lot of time on the Outer Banks growing up and during college. Great fishing around there and plenty of stuff for the kids to do. The further south you go, the quieter it gets. Hilton Head is also fun. Did well for redfish and trout paddling myself on the creeks around the island last time I was there.

 

[Stocker]

I planned the same trip last year. Curious why not take the wife to the beach in Utah?

She’d be down until we got there.

 

[wihunter12]

Sounds like my family, son and I try to fish wherever we can on trips but daughter and wife not too interested. We enjoyed Charleston for the inshore fishing and dolphin watching. Cool area with nice beaches too.

 

[nrpate05]

I too spent a lot of time on the Outer Banks of North Carolina growing up. You can charter an inshore or offshore trip out of Oregon Inlet. Offshore, we caught tons of Mahi mahi and got into a few other species as well. Inshore I think it was mostly bluefish and spanish mackerel. That changes depending on the time of year. There are also some piers you can fish from. It is also a great spot for hanging at the beach and checking out some historical stuff (Wright Bro's memorial, various lighthouses, etc.). We always stayed in Corolla, but I think if I were to go back I'd go further south.

 

[ccc23454]

Keys!

 

[Henry22]

My mother’s entire side of the family goes to the Myrtle Beach area for a week in July every year. When I was a little fella my dad, brother, me, and some cousins did a bunch of cheap party boat fishing with about 50-75 people on the boat and it was fun. Caught a variety of smaller fish but not many keepers. More recently our group saves some money (around $200-300 a person) and go every few years on a 10-12 hour private charter to make it out to the Gulf Stream. It’s definitely expensive but the fishing is fantastic. Heres a couple pics of our catch the last 2 times we went. We also bought fishing license and started catching blue crabs on the beach. I have some cousins about your kids ago and they love it. They have little nets and we go catch them in rock piles on the beach during low tide. Nothing special but they are very tasty

 

[Stocker]

Keys!

That was on my list too, forgot to include it.

 

[Irrelevant]

Wilderness Trip Planner - Everglades National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

 

[Dougfirtree]

My mother’s entire side of the family goes to the Myrtle Beach area for a week in July every year. When I was a little fella my dad, brother, me, and some cousins did a bunch of cheap party boat fishing with about 50-75 people on the boat and it was fun. Caught a variety of smaller fish but not many keepers. More recently our group saves some money (around $200-300 a person) and go every few years on a 10-12 hour private charter to make it out to the Gulf Stream. It’s definitely expensive but the fishing is fantastic. Heres a couple pics of our catch the last 2 times we went. We also bought fishing license and started catching blue crabs on the beach. I have some cousins about your kids ago and they love it. They have little nets and we go catch them in rock piles on the beach during low tide. Nothing special but they are very tasty
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What kind of sharks are those? Curious how you ate them and whether they were good?

 

[Stocker]

My mother’s entire side of the family goes to the Myrtle Beach area for a week in July every year. When I was a little fella my dad, brother, me, and some cousins did a bunch of cheap party boat fishing with about 50-75 people on the boat and it was fun. Caught a variety of smaller fish but not many keepers. More recently our group saves some money (around $200-300 a person) and go every few years on a 10-12 hour private charter to make it out to the Gulf Stream. It’s definitely expensive but the fishing is fantastic. Heres a couple pics of our catch the last 2 times we went. We also bought fishing license and started catching blue crabs on the beach. I have some cousins about your kids ago and they love it. They have little nets and we go catch them in rock piles on the beach during low tide. Nothing special but they are very tasty
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I’m kinda leaning that way. You think the kids could handle/have fun on the Gulf Stream charter?

 

[88man]

I can help > have her pick three places she would like to go vacation on or near the beach> then plan the fishing trip around her since you don't have a target species

 

[Stocker]

I can help > have her pick three places she would like to go vacation on or near the beach> then plan the fishing trip around her since you don't have a target species

Good call.

 

[88man]

Good call.

If you need the divorce lawyer I can help also

 

[CUElk]

If you are not big city, everything commercialized, big crowds, and traffic type of a family, I would avoid dirty Myrtle like the plague. It won’t be as bad in May but you will still have to deal with all the high school and college kids getting out of school. There are some fun things to do there, but I would suggest staying at a beach north or south of there and just visiting for a day. If you want to pm me we can chat about different beaches. I’ve visited most of the beaches from Virginia through Florida. As far as fishing, I wouldn’t take my kids offshore. My dad took me about that age and I got so sick I still, 40 years later, have no interest in going back. I’ll fish inshore all day every day but not off. If your kids have any issues with motion sickness I wouldn’t risk it. Plenty of good fishing from the surf in those areas as well. Hope you enjoy the trip. Be glad to help if I can.

 

[Henry22]

I’m kinda leaning that way. You think the kids could handle/have fun on the Gulf Stream charter?

Fun yes, but there’s nothing but blue water out there if they get tired of fishing. It can be a long day with the heat, not having your sea legs, and potential motion sickness. They can always take a break and nap when they’re tired but it’s still 10+ hours on a boat. Another thing to consider is how comfortable you think they’d be with the ocean rods. They are sustainably larger and there’s usually over a 100 feet of line out at a time, so lots of reeling and you may need to help them depending on how strong they are. I’ve had kids around 10 go with us and they did fine but definitely needed some help.

 

[Henry22]

What kind of sharks are those? Curious how you ate them and whether they were good?

The guide just called them dogfish but I think they are technically spiny dogfish sharks. We just fried them up since it was easiest to cook for a large group and they were as good as everything else. The guide said a lot scallops you order from restaurants down there are actually just dogfish which I thought was interesting.

 

[Dougfirtree]

The guide just called them dogfish but I think they are technically spiny dogfish sharks. We just fried them up since it was easiest to cook for a large group and they were as good as everything else. The guide said a lot scallops you order from restaurants down there are actually just dogfish which I thought was interesting.

I couldn't see the spikes to be sure. I've heard that as well, about some smaller "scallops" being dogfish. Some day, I'd like to try them. I've definitely had days when that was all I could catch from the beach.

 

[Irrelevant]

I believe there was an investigation conducted and scallops were the most likely to not actually be scallops. It was something like only ~40% of the ones tested were actually scallops. I'll have to try to find the study...