A family fishing trip sounds simple enough. Then you are standing on a dock with excited kids, a cooler full of snacks, and no idea what the next few hours actually hold. Captain Ted Penrod of Penrod & Reel runs family fun trips on the St. Joe River out of the Eagle Point location in St. Joseph. The experience he has built around these trips is designed to make the day easy, active, and memorable for everyone on board.
How the Morning Gets Started
Morning trips kick off at eight o’clock, which Ted settled on deliberately. It is early enough to get on the fish, but not so early that parents are dragging tired kids to a dock in the dark. Guests typically arrive five or ten minutes early, use the bathrooms at the marina, apply sunscreen, and hand off their cooler before climbing into the boat.
From there, it is about a ten-minute ride up the river before the rods go in the water. The setup is light-tackle spinning gear with night crawlers. That covers the vast majority of what the river offers during the summer months. Ted runs about four rods at a time. As he put it, “By the time you get the fourth rod out, somebody’s cranking a fish in usually, because there’s always something eating.”
Keeping Kids in the Game
Ted’s approach to fishing with kids is less about the species and more about the pace. The goal is to keep things moving, keep the rods bent, and keep young anglers focused on the next fish. If one spot slows down, he moves. He is upfront about why. In the age of phones and tablets, once a kid’s attention drifts, getting it back is an uphill battle.
He works directly with younger anglers throughout the trip. When a fish is on, he hands them the rod. If they need help, he holds it with them. As the day goes on, he lets them figure it out on their own. Ted described the way kids tend to evolve over the course of a trip when he said, “Usually by the end of the trip, if they’re into it, they know what to do. The kids, if they want to do it, they do it, and they get kind of competitive between each other.”
The Moment That Makes the Trip
There is a specific kind of moment that happens on family charters. Ted has watched it repeat itself more times than he can count. A kid hooks into the biggest fish they have ever caught. Their knees start shaking. Their legs go. Some drop to the floor of the boat because they cannot stand up. Some cry.
Ted described it simply when he said, “When you see a kid catch the biggest fish they’ve ever caught, they’re shaking. Their knees start shaking, their legs start shaking. I’ve had them fall down to their knees because they can’t stand up because they’re looking at that fish.”
That reaction is the reason he takes families fishing. It does not matter if it is a ten-year-old with a ten-pound fish or a young girl who has never touched a fish before. When that kid ends the trip holding one up for the camera, it becomes the moment everyone remembers. Those are the moments parents do not see coming, and kids never forget. As Ted put it, “That’s what makes them want to come back and want to keep fishing.”
What Happens at the End of the Day
Once the fishing is done, Ted cleans and bags every fish before guests leave. Anything worth keeping goes home looking like it came straight from a grocery store counter. Guests on vacation may release their catch if they do not have a way to cook it. They can also keep a few to fry up at an Airbnb or take home as a reminder of the day. Either way, the option is there.
The boat Ted runs for family trips is a custom 24-foot Carolina skiff. It is flat-bottomed for shallow river water and covered with an enclosure to provide shade in the summer. It also gives guests shelter if the weather rolls through. Up to six guests can join per trip, which makes it a natural fit for a family or a small group of friends.
Book Your Family Trip
Summer dates fill up, and the best mornings on the river go first. If you are planning a trip to the St. Joe area this season, book your family fun charter with Captain Ted. Give your kids a day on the water, and they will be talking about it long after the summer ends.