How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

[ngt]

Old enough to walk? Old enough to reel in their own line? 2? 3? or is there actually a rule on this?

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

No rule in my opinion. Pop on a lifejacket though just in case.
Next question will be "when should they bait their own hook"

 

[roscoe]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

There is no minimum age for fishing or bag limit here, at least its not in the regulation book.

We fished with some 7' cane pole from 4-6 years of age.
Thats when dad bought some Zebco 202's on 5' rods.

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

There is no minimum age for fishing or bag limit here, at least its not in the regulation book.

We fished with some 7' cane pole from 4-6 years of age.
Thats when dad bought some Zebco 202's on 5' rods.

My fondest memories are back then, going to the bait shop early... gettin some free bazooka joe gum and candy and of coarse bait from the old timers working there, a hot chocolate and donut and fishing for snapper blues and/or tinker mackeral with a bamboo rod with line tied on the end w/ the ol man and my brother.

Best memories period.

Start them off early I say

 

[ngt]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

My kid is 4 1/2 months. I'm thinking as soon as he can walk he's going to the river with mom and dad so dad can have an extra pole

 

[jigngrub]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

Have fun reeling in that 42" Striper on that Transformers rod and reel!

 

[catfishcarl99]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

my son is 5 hes casting (does ok but needs work) but with help untangeling once in a while and i bait his hooks but he can catch his own bluegills.

and he reeled this in own his own.

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

Took my two boys fishing at 3 but not until 5 was it really fun. Have started taking grandkids now at 5 and just as much fun if not more. Will be taking oldest to Lk Michigan for salmon this summer. Her dad and me decided the 8 was a good age to start the big lake stuff. My kids started with simple spin cast gear. I've started my grandkids off with ultralight spinning gear and they get the hang of it very quickly. Teaching them is rewarding and the smiles are amazing. Of course every child is different but in my opinion age 5 is a pretty good age to start.

 

[bassman284]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

Somewhere around 1990, my youngest sister and her family came out from Chicago for a weekend (nephew 7, niece 5). As far as my nephew was concerned, the only purpose of the trip was to go fishing with Uncle Bassman. I picked up some redworms and Sis, kids and I headed for the lake.

The kids had their 3 foot kiddie rigs and there was a certain amount of adventure getting the bobbers deep enough to do them some good while keeping them short enough so they didn't wrap them around their or our heads. After a while my nephew decided it was time for him to move up to one of my spinning rigs. With a certain amount of trepidation, I got out my 5' ultralight and with a sudden burst of inspiration, rigged it with a slip bobber and a 1/32 oz jig. By his 3rd attempt, he was casting like a pro and head-wrap worries were gone. I immediately rigged my niece's rod the same way and her casting went from scary to pretty darn good for a kid.

My sister was amazed and wondered how I ever thought of that. Told her that I had actually been fishing slip bobbers that way for a year or 2 and thought it might work for the kids. Changed kid fishing forever.

 

[ezbtr]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

Karl started at 4, and he's a damn good caster when he practices

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

There is no minimum age for fishing or bag limit here, at least its not in the regulation book.

We fished with some 7' cane pole from 4-6 years of age.
Thats when dad bought some Zebco 202's on 5' rods.

No minimum age, bag limits would be the same as everyone else. If dad already has his limit of walleye and he catches one on juniors or juniorettes pole, he needs to throw it back or risk getting busted by the gestapo. In WI you can't "party"(I think that's what they call it) fish. You can shoot a deer for someone else to fill their tag even if you shot your own prior, but, you can't catch a bluegill to help someone else in the boat get their limit. Makes zero sense to me. I know people who have been busted for party fishing....

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

I agree, kids start getting interested in fishing and not being bored at about 6 or so. however I have been fishing with my dad since I was 11 months old.

 

[nlain]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

In Ga you can start anytime, bag limits are the same for everyone, at a certain age kids have to have a license but that is it.

 

[catfishcarl99]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

in illinois theres a 2 pole limit in most waters. and a kids counts as yours. if my 2 kids are fishing i aint suppoed to. and there limit is your limit. at 16 they have to have thier own liscense.

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

Just before my daughter turned 3, we spent two weeks camping in the Rockies. I gave her a little Zebco on a short rod that had a spinner tied on the end of the line. She cast it out into the stream, hooked a little brookie, and reeled it in all by herself. I unhooked the fish and put it back into the stream. Almost 20 years later and I'm still beaming about it.

 

[dmn175]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

My 5 year old son and 8 year old daughter fish with me weekly and have since they were 3. They can handle everything except taking the fish off the hook. We started with the 3 foot spongebob poles and they are now hurling the 5 ft Zebco 404 combos and catching topwater stripers. It is truely amazing watching their face light up when they hook into a good size fish.

 

[scipper77]

Re: How old does a kid have to be before you can throw a line in the water for them?

my son caught his first fish when he was 2, just shy of 3. I baited the hook, he cast, caught, and reeled in the fish. It was a bluegill so I didn't let him take the hook off cause they are so spiney. At 2 years old he has (had) no issues with holding 2 lb bass that I caught and returning them to the water. He is 5 now and doesnt like to fish. He went so much with me when he was little that he doesn't think it's anything special to catch and handle fish...

My three year old still likes to fish with me but all he does is throw rocks while I fish.