Bring the Kids and Family on a Keys Fishing Charter everyone will enjoy. Capt Billy loves to see kids catch fish.

The older I get, the more I enjoy teaching young kids to fish. That’s because as a young boy growing up in the Florida Keys in the early 50’s, I spent every summer day wading the flats with my aunt and little brother Joe, or bottom fishing in my uncle’s boat. Living a hundred miles from Miami, with no such thing as cable TV, I grew up in the outdoors, close to nature – and it led me to my one-and-only, forty-year career as a Florida Keys fishing guide.

It’s different with today’s generation of kids. Most spend too much time in front of the TV, and not enough time on outdoor activities. Of course, as a Florida Keys fishing guide, I'd like to see all kids take up fishing – but it may not be for everyone. Yet I feel kids should be given a chance to make up their own minds.

I get the same thrill watching a seven year old fighting a three pound mangrove snapper that I do watching a master angler bowing to a giant leaping tarpon. The rod is bent double, and there’s a strained facial look that suddenly turns into an ear to ear grin when I net the fish and Dad and Mom take photos.

Spring break is just one good time to bring your kids fishing. Any time of the year – spring, summer, fall or winter – I’ll take them to where the fish are biting and put a smile on their face. I know for a fact they always put one on mine.