Kids’ fishing champ joins Capt. Greg on the hunt for redfish

The 14th Annual Danziger Cup Kids Fishing 

 

Tournament will be held on Saturday, June 14, at Smythe Park on Daniel Island. 

 

If you have children with an interest in fishing, the Danziger Cup is the event for you. One of my favorite things about the tournament is that I get to take the grand champion fishing!

 

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of fishing with Rhett Kislinger, the reigning grand champion, and Karl, Rhett’s dad. 

 

When planning our trip, Rhett shared that he would like to try and catch a big redfish. So, I scheduled our trip to coincide with the last two hours of the falling tide – the optimal window for targeting inshore redfish.

 

On the morning of our trip, Rhett and Karl arrived right on time. As they walked down the dock, I noticed that Rhett was already wearing his life jacket. He was ready to go fishing!

 

Rhett and Karl jumped onto the skiff, and we headed to our first fishing location, a shallow creek with an oyster-lined channel. We pinned a live shrimp onto a 1/6-ounce jig and cast it into the channel.

 

As I was explaining what a bite would feel like, Rhett set the hook and began to expertly fight a redfish. I laughed. No instruction needed! In the parlance of fishing, a truly gifted angler is called a “stick.” Without a doubt, Rhett is a stick. He is also thoughtful and very polite – an absolute pleasure to fish with.

 

The redfish in our first location were plentiful but small. After catching a few, we moved to a shallow dock in search of larger fish. 

 

While waiting for a bite, I explained to Rhett how to use the fishing rod to maneuver a large fish away from the dock pilings. 

 

When the big bite came, Rhett did a great job maneuvering the fish and bringing it to the skiff. Most impressive.

 

I don’t recall the number of fish that Rhett caught, but it was a lot. Yeah, Rhett is a stick!