Charter captain Jonathan Moss explains how to get kids hooked on fishing from an early age

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Captain Jonathan Moss has been fishing Florida waters since he was 3 years old.

Back then, it was simple stuff: bream fishing with his dad, earthworms, easy stuff. But those early days on the water stuck.

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“I got the bug. I was hooked from the beginning,” Moss told OutKick Outdoors. “Just being outdoors, spending time in God’s creation, being on the water. There’s no other place I’d rather be.”

Today, Moss is a full-time charter captain in Central Florida, host of The Captain’s Log on Waypoint and owner of Go Cast Away. But before he made a living on the boat, he was an elementary school PE teacher who found himself staring out the window a little too often.

“I was teaching every day, and every day I was like, ‘Man, it’s beautiful weather. I should be on the water,’” Moss said.

Eventually, he took the leap. He left teaching, bought a boat and built a charter business from scratch.

“I started praying about it, and God said, ‘Go fish,’ and here we are,” Moss said. “Been guiding now for 10 years full time.”

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But for Moss, fishing has never been just about putting fish in the boat. The best part of his job, he said, is watching people experience something together that they’ll remember long after the trip is over.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure and honor to be able to share my favorite places with guests from all over the world,” Moss said. “Seeing that fish respond to a lure, or seeing a kid catch their first fish, families creating memories together on the water — that is the best part of my job.”

Fishing reels on a charter boat heading to a reef

Moss knows that firsthand.

The man who first got him into the outdoors was his dad. Years later, one of Moss’ favorite episodes of The Captain’s Log was filming with his father during season one. They didn’t catch anything especially big, but that wasn’t the point.

“We were together fishing,” Moss told OutKick Outdoors. “The man who got it started for me out in the outdoors.”

These days, his whole family is in on it.

Jonathan’s wife, Brooke, hosts Trail to Tide, an outdoor show geared toward women and moms. He said she didn’t grow up in a particularly “outdoorsy, fishy family,” but by the time they met, she had already bought her own rod and reel, taught herself knots on YouTube and started fishing off the seawall on the Indian River.

“I’ve been able to watch her blossom and grow as an angler,” Moss said.

And apparently, Brooke is no casual angler.

Moss recalled a bass fishing trip last fall when his son accidentally hooked Brooke in the shoulder while fish were busting on the surface in front of them.

“It went through her shirt, through her bra strap, all the way into her shoulder, buried the hook,” Moss said. “And she’s like, ‘Babe, cut it off. Cut it off. I want to fish. There’s fish here in front of me.’”

Most people, Moss said, would have been done for the day. Not Brooke.

“She proceeded to catch one of the biggest bass she’s ever caught in her life with a lure still in her shoulder,” he said.

What a warrior.

family gathers around pile of fish on boat

The couple have two young sons, ages 4 and 6, and Moss described them as “nearly feral” in the best possible way — dirty, energetic and always outside.

“They are all boy and go, go, go from the minute they wake up to the minute we drag them to bed,” he said.

As for getting his boys away from screens, Moss said there isn’t much of a grand strategy.

“I just like being outside, and so it just comes natural for them,” Moss said. “Mom and Dad are outside, whether we’re working in the garden or out back playing with the dogs, or we’re going fishing, or hiking, or doing something. We just do something outside all the time.”

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That doesn’t mean every outing has to be an all-day adventure. In fact, Moss said parents are better off not overcomplicating it.

In the Florida summer heat, his family gets strategic. They go early in the morning or in the evening after it rains. They pack snacks. They go swimming at the island or sandbar. Then maybe they get ice cream afterward.

“When they look back and go, ‘Man, doing stuff outside is fun,’ it becomes these fun memories,” Moss said.

That’s the real trick, he said, for parents who want their kids to appreciate fishing and the outdoors from an early age.

“Oh, listen, keep it simple. You don’t need to be there all day,” Moss said. “If they’re there an hour and they’re ready to go, go.”

Moss said kids do not need to start by targeting trophy fish. Let them catch catfish. Let them catch ladyfish. Let them play with shrimp in the bait bucket or livewell. Let them stay engaged in whatever way keeps them having fun outside.

“It’s OK. They’re having fun, they’re engaged, they’re with you, you’re on the water,” he said.

Boy and his sister fish outdoors by a lake

On his own charters, Moss said he will often gear trips around giving kids something manageable. That might mean catching 10-inch speckled trout all day.

“Are they big? No. Do they tug? Yes, they do,” Moss said. “Can the kid do it on their own? Yes, they can. And you know what? They’re hooked.”

From there, he said, kids can slowly progress. They can stay longer, target bigger fish and learn more advanced skills. But in the beginning, the goal is simply creating an experience they want to repeat.

“Keep it easy, have fun, relax,” Moss said. “It doesn’t matter what you catch, doesn’t matter what they’re doing, as long as everyone’s engaged and having fun, you’re on the right track.”

Moss sees that same effect with adults, too.

When clients meet him at the dock, climb on the boat and put their phones away, he can see the stress leave their bodies.

“You see the shoulders just drop,” Moss said. “You see the big sighs. You see it happen. I witness this daily.”

Moss isn’t anti-screen, obviously. He hosts a television show and creates content for a living. But he also knows there’s value in putting down the phones and tablets to be fully present for a few hours.

That’s why, even after a long day guiding clients, he has no problem heading right back out with Brooke and the boys.

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“My wife said, ‘You’re crazy. You want to stay out in the sun more?’” Moss said. “I was like, ‘I’ll do anything to spend time on the water with my family.’ That’s the most important to me.”

For Moss, that’s the whole point. The fish are just an added bonus.

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