Getting the kids out

[The General]

For the last two nights I've been taking my 4 and 2 year old down to the local watering hole to catch silver dollar size sunnies.  I did bring the camera one night but heck didn't even have time to take a pic.  Between baiting hooks, taking fish off, getting lines untangled.........  Take your kids fishing!  You will never regret it.   

[IronRack]

I had my 3 girls out last weekend, ages 12,6,and 2. what a blast!! They had sooo much fun. I think I had more though, Now I can't leave for the lake without them  or they get mad at me. It helped we were catching 9-10 inch sunnies so it kept them interested. You are right, you won't regret it.

[sandmannd]

I took my three year old handlining with me last Thursday. Obviously she can't fish that technique, but she had a great time in the boat. Always get your kids out with you if you can.

[HD]

I took the boy out trolling for pike on Friday afternoon....

He had a blast! And a nice pike ta boot!

[Mayfly]

Fishing this last week was a family affair as I got my daughter out again for some fishing. We switched gears a little bit and decided to leave the boat at home. If you don’t have a boat or don’t feel like trailing the boat to a lake there is plenty of shore fishing opportunities around. This last weekend we went to one of my favorite spots; the Mississippi river.

It was a day well spent and the price was right. We paid a few bucks for some night crawlers and spent a few hours on the shores of the river. Fishing on the river is easy. I grew up in St. Paul so have spent many of days along the banks of this river fishing for anything that is biting.

The fishing on this particular day was very slow. We actually didn’t catch anything but we saw a few fish caught up and down the river which gave us hope. Although no fish were caught we did have some excitement and that was when my daughter yelled turtle and lunged into the water with her hands! A second later her hands emerged from the water with a smooth soft-shelled turtle! How she saw that turtle and caught it so quick was beyond me. In my life I think I have maybe seen about 2 of these types of turtles in the wild. After reading about them on a few different websites including the DNR site I did find out that it is a very rare turtle and this was truly a cool thing to see one in the wild. After looking at it for a while and taking a couple pictures we let the turtle go back in the water. Before my daughter let it go she named it Shelly and set her free to find her parents. I had to tell her that so she would let her go. The last thing she wanted to do was let her new pet turtle get away. As the turtle was released it swam quickly up the shore in the shallow water. It swam so quickly that I again wondered how the heck she caught it in the first place.

So a day spent fishing turned into an exciting and fun day for all and we didn’t even catch a fish. That is why I continue to fish and that is why I continue to take my daughter fishing with me. Those experiences are fun for all and the memories will last a lifetime. The best thing about it is how cheap it is. If you don’t have fishing gear I suggest investing in a couple rods and some tackle and finding a nice shore-line near your house. If you like being outside I’m sure you can find some fun while doing it and you never know, you might get to catch a fish!