My Son Wants to Fish

[chris c]

My kid is 7, I carry him to somewhere he can atleast catch panfish or maybe a bass every now and then. I bring plenty of snacks, so i hes bored fishing hes content eating. I let him reel in every fish I hook. When hes ready to go, we leave. 5 min can be an eternity to a young kid, no better way to ruin fishing for them than not make it about them, and keeping them out there longer than they want to be. It can be a PITA, but it is what it is.

[Jamie]

My son have been fishing with me for years. He is 9 years old now. He has been using a baitcaster since he was 5. I cut out a bunch of line but he picked it up easier I thought he would. He honestly is really good and will fish from daylight to dark even if the fishing is tough. For us when he would get bored I would just go to the bank and we would catch Bream, or snag a carp or gar anything that would bite.
Also I would make sure that he kept he life jacket on at all times. He fell of twice and I would just pick him back up into the boat then we would just swimming so he didn't mind. I also would make him sit in the floor beside me when the boat was moving. Just plan making it enjoyable for him and everything will work out.

[Babe Winkleworm]

I have a son the same age. He has been on the boat with me for a couple years now. I just have come to realize his attention span is not like mine. He'll fish for a bit then want to swim so I force myself to pull over to the shore and let him jump off the boat fo awhile while I rerig or clean the boat. (I often do this near the ramp when the bikini hatch is Poppin). A fish in the livewell is probably the best babysitter you can have! As far as learning...let them do everything on their own from playing with baits to tieing their own knots. You will have a partner for life!

[519DVX]

It's been a slow process getting my kids to stay out longer and longer. My family has a cottage in the 1000 Islands and I take the bass boat up about 3-4 times a year. The boat is in the water while we're there, so it's easy to go out for an hour and come back. Their attention span has slowly been increasing. We got some great fishing in last year. My oldest tangled up his rod, so while I was untangling it he picked up my spinning rod and ends up catching a 3-1/2 pound smallmouth. All 3 of them were excited and didn't want to come in after that. Another trip we went up into a creek near the cottage. My oldest caught a 13" largemouth so I put down the power poles to help him, then my 8 year old started catching crappies. We just stayed there for the next hour and caught a ton. He was a machine...practically drop his jig and pick it straight back up. My older son caught a few, and my daughter caught a little sunfish, but to her it was a trophy!

My best advice is go with the flow. You can't go out in tournament mode and expect the kids to enjoy it.

[Steven H]

Daughter is 8 if we are not catching them good, they would rather play on the big sandbar beaches in the river here ( San Jac) and I fish within site of them. I found a bunch of fish that I plan to take her and another friend to this weekend as its catching, not fishing. Take snacks and drinks, they like the picnics. My daughter has 4 rods and loans them to her pals that come along. They wont fish hardcore like you but fish in a bucket or livewell does provide enjoyment. No phones or tablets out there,ever.

I want my daughter to fish some tourneys with me this year but need to see if TD will let me drop her off about 10 at our neighborhood ramp then come back and get her so she does not have to grind it out like us guys do. She has won a couple of kid fish events so she has a lot of confidenence.

[Steven H]

morning

[354ranger]

If you take a coffee can full of rocks with you it will give him something to do. He is going to throw something in the lake might as well let him throw rocks instead of baits.
He'll be outfishing you before you turn around twice. Good luck

[clayrhye]

I literally cant remember a time in my life when I wasn’t going fishing with my Dad. I believe he started me about 3, bank and pond fishing and such. I was on the boat fishing tournaments with Dad probably by around age 8 I suppose. He had me driving the boat, backing trailers, etc etc. It hasn’t stopped since, and fishing with Dad is one of my most favorite things in the world to do, and it has nothing to do with catching a fish.

[new2BC4bass]

Five with cane pole. Next year with a Mitchell 300 that stayed with me for many years.

[RTH NITRO]

DON'T miss this opportunity!!! My son is 15 and my daughter is 13. He fishes in our high school league and she is in our middle school league. My son usually goes out with his partner in their boat but I've learned a lot from him just from him learning tricks and different style of fishing (not to mention a few spots!!!) I take my daughter and her partner and was very frustrated with all the mistakes. Our first tournament was rough and everyone was ready to be done, we fished our second tournament last weekend and i was detemined not to be upset just to let them enjoy the day. Every bait they used was weedless which was much better and they actually caught fish!!! You just gotta make it easier on them!!! My son and his partner finished 12th out of 190 teams and qualified for Nationals in Wisconsin. My daughter finished 16th out of 42, which moved her up to 5th in her league!!! Today my son asked about taking our boat fishing this summer while I'm at work!!! I've created a monster!!! Take him fishing and on several boat rides!!!

[basscat tyler]

My daughter is 3 and she’s been boating since she was 6 months old. She loves being out on the water doing anything. Like the rest have said, the biggest thing is to make it fun and don’t push them

[andy52887]

I have a 4 year old girl and my wife was working on the weekends so the only way I could go was take her with me. At 3 years old and mind you I live in Louisiana with plenty of heat in the summer will go from 7-10 in the morning and she would stand or sit on the front deck just casting away with her barbie pole. We had some good trips only bad thing with a girl is the bathroom breaks lol.

[MetsFan9]

Best part of fishing is with my 4 yr old son and my father. All about time on the water, passing it forward and having fun.

[BG12]

As someone already said, cherish the time. And take him EVERY time he wants to go... One day it'll be this....



Blink twice and it'll be this...

[Thomasj]

10 years of fishing goes by really fast.

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