Next weekend a bunch of scouts and adults (1-2hundred) will be camping out at scusset beach campground. This is the same event they did about 4 years ago. They will be biking along the canal, flying kites at the beach, some sort of compass course and, of course, fishing.

The ArmyCorps will be doin a talk about the canal and some environmental type folks will have a mess of fish from deep water for the kids to poke and prod.

Aside from keeping reigns on about 16 boys and 4 other adults, I will be trying to get some canal fishin in.

Any recomendations for gear? I have told the kids in my troop if they are gonna buy gear to get one of those cheap saltwater combos from WallyWart - damn I hate that chain. No sense in spending big bucks on gear that may well end up trashed due to misuse or being thrown into the canal due to lack of experience.

What cheap tackle should I bring that I could hand out to them as they loose whatever they have pilfered from their folks? 3oz jigheads and grubs? crippled herring? kastmasters?

Can you fish from the beach? I have only been down the canal once. And sadly much of my focus this time will be watching the scouts.

I have a bunch of plugs that catch fishermen but have not caught me any fish. What should I have for the beach?

I might be inclined to cook dinner for one or two of you if you want to come by and give my guys some words of wisdom for successful fishing on the canal... I will have a rather large castiron pan and some extra oil and crumbs for fresh striper dinner.... hint hint hint...

yes you can fish from the shore. i think cast masters and crippled herrings or even bomber type plugs would be the best bet for inexpirenced youth. not much technique needed, just cast and reel in. :D

Best lure for the newbie in my opinion would be a 1 ounce pencil popper....Gibbs of course, in blue/white or red/white. Bucktail on the back. Easy to cast and easier to fish.:D