If you love to fish like I do, then you will also love to see the look on your kids face when he or she reels one in. I try to take my kids fishing as much as possible and I can’t tell you the last time that I reeled in my own fish, but I can tell you how excited the kids get when they reel one in.
Fishing with the little ones is not an easy task from getting all the poles ready to talking about the importance of patience. Most kids will sit there and play with their pole or reel it in every couple of minutes because they had a “huge bite”.
If you are looking into getting your kids out on the lake to fish then hopefully I can give you some tips and some encouragement to do so.
Find a good spot
I usually have the lake picked out way beforehand. Just as important as the lake is finding a good spot for all the family to fish from or are we taking the boat out. I like taking the boat if it is just me and one or two kids, but any more than that it because to crazy. At the lake I look for a spot that isn’t too steep and has some nice areas for the kids to fish from that is big enough to fit all of them without getting crossed up with each other.
Get the Gear Ready
After the spot has been found then I get all the pole ready before going to the water, usually at camp. The older kids can get their own hooks tied up, but I do all the tying for the younger kids. It is important that the young kids stay safe with the hooks especially since they have barbs. There are some great bobbers for kids if you are worried about this. It is also important to use the right kind of bait, we mostly fish for trout so we usually use power bait and night crawlers. Head down to the lake a get your spots ready to fish.
Casting Out
Casting out is a hard one for kids especially younger ones. For my youngest kids I will generally cast their poles out for them, but the older kids will do it themselves. Some things I recommend is the type of reel you get for kids just learning to cast. I usually start my kids out with a spincast fishing reel, because it is the easiest to use. I will eventually work them up to using a spinning fishing reel, which is a little bit more advanced, but also the most common reel. You can also get kids fishing poles that have waited fish attached to them so that young kids can practice casting in the yard or wherever.
The next thing is how kids cast. What I have found to be the easiest and safest is teaching them a side arm cast instead of over the head. Since hooks have barbs on them to prevent the fish from getting off easily we need to be as safe as possible and this keeps the hook as far from themselves as possible. Also, make sure they are watching around them as they cast so that they aren’t going to hook someone else.
Landing a Fish
It is important that kids learn patience and fishing is definitely a way to teach this. There are days that you can be out on the lake for hours and not catch a single fish. When that fish does get on the hook it is important that the young ones learn to land it quickly, but also should learn to stop really when it gets to the waters edge.
Once the fish has been catch, teach the kids how to properly remove the hook without doing damage to the fish (not always possible, but help them to know what to do if you can’t get the hook out). After the fish is off the hook take your pictures and either release the fish or keep it for dinner. Kids should be learning the difference between a fish we release and one we keep for dinner (check the lake restrictions as well).
Have Fun
Fishing is fun. Try and teach kids that fishing is fun even if the fish aren’t flying out of the lake. Keep the kids involved so that they don’t lose interest in this sport, if they aren’t having fun it is much more likely that they are going to stop doing it.
Also LET THE KIDS GUT THE FISH….or at least learn how
Have some good tips for fishing with kids? Let me know!
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This is so great. I love taking my kids fishing. I think that these skills are becoming a lost art.
Great article! I remember fishing with my dad, many happy memories and I used to like to clean and gut the fish too!! You brought out many important things about teaching you kids to fish, these are memories that will last a lifetime for them.