My best tip for helping kids boat fish is to leave the kicker in gear as they play the fish. It helps guarantee that some tension remains on the line, helps prevent the fish from running across other lines or downrigger cables, and helps tire the fish out before it gets to the boat.

My compliments on letting the kids keep trying... even if they lose a few. That's the only way they'll ever learn and it shows that you know they can learn to do it completely on their own!