Question for the fathers out there.

[Jefferson]

So my boy is 6 years old and Ive taken him to small ponds and caught a bunch of panfish with him so far. He has his own little tackle box and rod and reel and he seems to enjoy it, but doesn't have much patience waiting for a fish to bite. I know he's only 6 and I don't want to push it on him to much. I guess my question is how old were your sons/daughter when they really got interested in fishing with dad and all the fun stuff that comes with it?

[Got Fish??]

Remember, it's all about quality time spent  with your children . As long as they are  having fun, you have their attentions . My boys were in their teens before they got serious  about fishing. I say keep filling those buckets with pan fish. In time  better fishing trips will come. Take lots of pictures .

[Skulley]

My daughter fished with me from the time she was 6 until she was about 12 to 13. She then had other interests. Now she is starting to get interested again at 20 years old. Not a lot, but any amount is good. My son is 14. He likes to fish occasionally but his love is soccer. He goes out with me 4 to 6 times a year.

Let your kids dictate how long you go for. Plenty of snacks helps. When they want to go home, go. Keeping them out there against their wishes at a young age like that will harbor more resentment. As my boy gets older he wants to go more because I never forced him. If he wanted to go, we would go. If he didn't want to go, he didn't go. I still went. But I never made my kids go against their will.



BD.                   

[djkimmel]

I'm the oldest with 5 brothers and 2 sisters (down to 1 sister now). Every single one of them was different. I was the hard core of the bunch, and later an alternate 'daddy.' None of them fish with me now but each one required different activities, length of trip, side excursions and sometimes (frustrating I'll admit) unexpected 'flexibility' in the original plan for the day.

I'm glad I got to do what I did with them, even the frustrating parts. Patience, patience, patience is a key. I probably learned a lot because patience is not my main virtue. But you need it to take other people and get the best result you can all make of it.

[thedude]

i spent my first 2 weeks in the canadian wilderness with gramma and grampa at 7 years old. No tv, no radio just a camper, a boat and an outhouse.  caught a lot of walleyes and pike. we'd come in mid-day and i'd fish of the dock until it was time to go back out.

Just depends on the kid i guess is my point - just keep it fun. I'm starting to build my son's first rod in a week or 2. He'll be born in feb   

[Got Fish??]

Congratulations   dad, raising a son will be the hardest job you ever loved , in your life.

[TimH]

I don't have any kids, but I will contribute based on my own experience.  My dad started taking me fishing as a very young child, but he would always "call it a day" when I started to get bored.  He likes to tell the story about one of the first times he took me fishing up north.  We had rented a cabin on Platte Lake (i think), and he took me fishing off the dock.  I was either four or five at the time.  He tells the story that after a few minutes of fishing, I apparently thought the dock was longer and just walked off the end of it.  He promptly pulled me out of the water and took me back to the cabin to change.  He said that as we were walking back, he thought "well, that's probably going to be it for his interest in fishing", but as soon as we got back to the cabin and I changed, I grabbed my tackle box box and asked him if he was ready to go back down to the dock.
I am very grateful that he taught me how to fish and that I still have the opportunity to fish with him.  I was also very grateful to have had the opportunity to fish with my grandfather when he was alive.  Fishing is good within itself, but fishing with family and friends is a whole different experience.
No matter how you decide to teach your son, the time you spend with him doing it will be time well spent.

[fiker]

Age is dependent on the the child, and the adult.  When they're young, you've gotta keep it all about the kid.  Fishing is supposed to be fun.  That may or may not involve actually catching fish.  Gummy worms used for bait cause the kid thinks it's a good idea is not a problem.  Going for a boat ride just to feel the wind in your hair is ok.   Taking a side trip to swing from a rope swing into the water is a great way to have fun.   Go for the blue gills.  Even the little tiny ones are fun for a little angler. 

I've taken my kids, and now my grandkids to the Half Moon chain quite a bit.  On weed days there's little traffic.  There's a great place to beach the boat in Patterson.  From there you can get out and walk around in knee deep water with a sandy bottom.  There's a neat rope swing in Blind lake.  I've even let the kids swing on the swing while I caught smallies off of the back of the boat not 50 ft away.  There's a pavilion at the State beach.  We've taken pizza there after work, ate dinner and then went fishing.   For catching small pan fish the entrance or exit from each of the lakes is a good place to anchor.  They can catch a bunch of fish before they get bored.  Sometimes we even catch bass or cat fish from these locations. 

Point is, make it all about the kids. 

[Redbone]

I have a soon to be 6 year old. We fished quite a bit last summer. I'll admit its a lot of work but can be very rewarding. I usually anchor on a drop off next to some fish. Once I get him all situated I make a few casts before having to put another worm on or remove a fish. He always gives me a hard time because he is catching more fish . The last time out he was asking what I was using for a bait and why I wasn't using a worm. I was ready for that conversation.

[Kal-Kevin]

these days I take it on in doubles not one kid but two at a time!

Being a grandpa is nicer then being a dad, in that you can spoil them more then dads can. I find it helps to bring something else with us they can play with when the fishing drops off. That way they can leave fishing for a few minutes when ever they want to and I find they want to fish again when you catch couple good (little) ones while they are playing.

[robhj]

My 11 yo daughter has been fishing with me since she could walk. Nothing pleases me more than spending time with her whether we're fishing or not. Fortunately for me, she still enjoys going out with me. One of the things that I committed to from the beginning is fishing as long as she wanted, which many times meant leaving earlier than I wanted to. I always tried to make it an enjoyable experience for her. I always made sure we had plenty of snacks, and I tried to keep things fun, which meant taking time to catch frogs or snakes or whatever else came up while fishing. This year I bought her a GoPro so she could do some filming out on the water. Before this year I would bring my iPad or let her use my phone to record some videos to help break things up while fishing. I also took the time early on to teach her how to cast and use a few lures that wouldn't get snagged as easily, such as a spinnerbait, popper, and a weedless skirted twin tail grub. I'm sure her interests will change as she gets older but until then, I plan on fishing with her as much as I can.

[Jefferson]

Thanks for the info! Seems like we're on the right path so far. The future is looking go good in my household!