Fish-Hawk.Net

Mr. J. and Wolfe (and many others) have brought up some good points about fishing with kids, especially young ones.

Would love to hear what people have done to keep fishing entertaining for young kids, and how some have over comer certain obstacles like equipment or other.

M.T. Livewell

Be sure to have lots of snacks in the boat. Sometimes I just keep my daughter eating the whole time when she's seemingly uninterested.

Some of the things I have done so far. Keeping in mind at this point I have a 3 year old girl, a 5 year old boy, and a 14 year old boy.

For the 'babies', I have equipped them with ice fishing gear and spinning reels. Most ice fishing rods are seldom longer than 3' long max. I end up doing most of the casting for them, or just have them swim a jig and worm combo beside the boat. Great for perch and rockbass, etc. And it gives me an excuse to stock up for ice fishing season.

My 14 is equipped with a 5'6 medium light rod and spinning reel. I have found that 8lb test is way too light and will equip him with 12lb superline this year. If you think as a die hard fisherman you get upset when you lose a fish, imagine a youngster breaking off one of the few fish he may catch in a short outting. Not to mention the woes of retying.

General tips
Keep the trips short.
When the kids get board, take them for a spin.
Don't expect to be fishing while they are (especially when they are very young). You need to fish fast and furious and be ready with a fresh worm when a school of perch nibbles them off.
Bring lots of food and drinks (not water, kids hate water). Make part of the pre-fishing trip to the store one of the events so they can pick their own chips, drinks, etc.
Bring toys and let them play with them. In the event they get bored, let them play with your tackle (that has no hooks), i.e. worms, senkos, tube jigs, etc.

Always keep a smile on your face. Be ready that they will get your boat dirty (my youngest song like to play with the worms). And be careful, hooks flying around are bound to get caught in carpet, other rods and reels, and body parts. Bring a first aid kit.

If anyone else would like to share some success stories (or not so successsful stories), we'd love to see them.

Bring a camera. Nothing prettier than the smile on their faces!!!

M.T. Livewell

Well here's a subject I have tons of experience with. I often have my girls in the boat with me.

Tip 1 - Snacks. Snacks are great, but don't pick things that will crumble (potato chips) or they can paint with (cheeze whiz). It'll only be a mess for you later. Keep them hydrated, lots of water.

Tip 2 - Gear. Keep all gear the you don't want thrown/dropped overboard packed away or tied to the boat. Pliers, scale, camera.

Tip 3 - Enertainment. Keep a stash of crayons and a book on board. Another thing I do, that is always a hit, is I catch a couple pumkinseeds at the dock and toss them in the livewell. The girls name them and train them (so they think). Keeps them busy for hours.

Tip 4 - Comfort. Keep a pee bucket on board. I think kids pee every 20 minutes when on a boat. I also keep a tarp and blanket in a garbage bag. The blanket is for playing with and keeping warm if it gets cool and the tarp is in case it pours.

Tip 5 - Selective fishing. Pick fishing spots and species that are abundant. Lunker hunting may cause early bordom. I tend to target perch and bass when they're with me. Even if they get tired of fishing, they still get excited about seeing a fresh fish every so often. (New fish to train! )

I love my kids in the boat. When you make it comfortable for them, they'll be happier to join you more. This only increases your future time on the water!! Good luck MT.

Last year my youngest (one year old) accompanied my oldest (three at the time) and my wife on his first canoe/fishing trip. Within 15 minutes he had JUMPED out of the canoe and was testing his lifejacket in the Rideau River. Needless to say the lifejacket worked and I found out that my oldest son really does love his baby brother (he screamed his head off for me to get his brother back in the boat and was still crying after his brother had stopped).

Well a few weeks ago I mentioned to my oldest (four now) that we will have to get out with the whole family and fish. Hi response was 'why so Thomas can go swimming?'. I guess that will be an experience he won't forget. Me neither!

JasonM

P.S. Food keeps mine busy.

Plentiful fish and lots of snack food usually works best.

Marcus, I like the LiveWell idea, I'll have to try that this year. My daughter will do the naming and training and my son will do the tormenting.

I also found the use of the fish alarm on the Sonar is usually good to grab their attention for at least 10min.

I grew up in a fishing family so I am lucky that I can pass on my mom and dads love of fishing to my children.

When I am fishing with my 2 year old he has a line with a bobber and a toy fish on the end (no hook) he can cast all he wants without hurting himself but still have fun. My wife and myself put out a line with a bobber and worm with a barbless hook...in a few seconds we usually get a sunfish bite and he gets to bring in a fish on one of our rods. With both rods going it never gets boaring. The fish we catch go in the live well and when the fish don't bite we practice counting them, naming them, and sing nemo songs...after about an hour or two we go for a boat ride around the lake and he usually falls asleep in moms arms.

The only rods I take in the boat are to catch fish for my son Gethyn...no other rods or tackle...I keep it simple and make sure he has a great time.

When Jonathan was younger (I started him at 2yrs old) he would stay interested with the bait bucket. I used the ultra light rods..4' and always a spinning reel. As he got older (5) he used his gameboy when he wanted a change during a slow bite. Now at 7 yrs he has a good rod and quality reel and takes pride in casting and catching on his own. Now he only stops for a snooze with all that fresh air. Victoria still fishes at 11..but only for a few and then she keeps herself occupied with drawing.

I take out my children and my nephew and niece quite often.

Rule #1: Don't plan to fish yourself (too busy taking fish off hooks (see rule 2, untangling line, changing lures, pulling lures out of trees, pulling lures off the bottom etc...)

Rule #2: Quantity over Quality

Rule #3: Create/make a routine... ie. stop at Tim Hortons for hot chocolate, DQ after fishing etc...

Reward: Finding out that the highlight of every summer for these children is to go fishing with you

Buzzer

** Deleted duplicate post **

While I can't say that I have any practical experience with taking kids along fishing, I would agree with that majority here in that if they aren't getting any fishing action (especially the young ones) they tend to get bored and discouraged. On too many occasions have I seen parents set up a little one with a big red ball bobber with a large hook and worm. While I assume that the use of the large hook is to try to avoid swallowed hooks, but the large bobber simply means that with the exception of a large fish the kids never know if they have a bite.

My personal preference when using a float is to use a Thill "shy bite" or small "waggler" float though a small pencil foat will work just as well. When loaded with the proper amount of shot they will indicate the bite of even the smallest fish. For hooks I strongly suggest trying circle hooks if you haven't already, as you do not "set" the hook, but simply real in and engage the fish. The design of the hook almost always guarentees a lip hook. For small fish I pefer to use a size 4 circle hook. Because the float is ultra sensative, the kids will be kept busy catching fish after fish if the bite is on. They will definitely know if a fish has taken their bait.

As for bait, rather than mess with worms you may wish to try the Micro Berkely Power baits such as the trout worms. Given the small hook you can get by with only half a worm at a time and they tend to last for a good number of fish.


Todd

Rule # 1
Leave your rods at home - concentrate on getting the kids into it.
#2 - snacks
3- snacks
4- toilet paper - my daughter always have to go as soon as we hit the water and they won,t go near and outhouse but have no problem behind a bush somewhere.
5 - if you can manage it bring a friend of the kids too
6- snacks
7-sunscreen
8- snacks

etc.

Have fun...

Wow, great timing with this thread, as I am about to once again take the kids fishing for the next several days!! Glutton for punishment, or what?

It's funny the way we all agree on one thing: unlikely you will get good quality fishing time in while the juniors/juniorettes are on board. So make their fishing fun for you, too.

Another good idea is to get them inexpensive binoculars (if they are old enough to trust not to deep 6 them in the lake). Tell them to "spy" for certain things, like animals, birds, cottagers, etc. It might keep them busy for a who 5 minutes so YOU can get a few casts in. (Oops, is that Neighbor Fat Fred sunbathing in the nude!? )

CAMERA, SUNSCREEN, HATS, DRINKS & SNACKS...SIMPLE FLOAT TOYS & SCOOPING DEVICES FOR THE LIVEWELL...(water is just sooo fun!)

and regardless of how much they plead, beg, whine, rant & rave: do not unzip/unbuckle their life vests, please!

If the kids are a little older and into a little friendly sibling rivalry, or parent-child rivalry, have your own fishing derby. My family used to do this. Establish a simple point system early on, whether it be by species, size or just sheer quantity. It's lots of fun for everyone, unless you've got a sore loser on board?!

Finally, don't expect too much, particularly any great amount of time on the water. I always tell myself this is a temporary state of loving imprisonment!

Kids grow up so fast!

GRIN & BEAR IT, Y'ALL...!

W.

How about trolling them behind in musky season
Just pulling your pickeral
Why not use your underwater camera and let them tell you when they see fish, or put the fish finder in alarm mode and reduce the senstivity till it beeps every couple of seconds, sure will make them stay focused on the finder.
I think I've been using the boat carpet glue in enclosed spaces too much tonight.