Taking the kids?

[4x4fishin]

How many of you take you kids fishing with you?

How old are they?

Are they in the same yak, or thier own?

Do they fish, or just along for the ride?

Can/do you take them with you for tournaments. How do the rules work on that?

What yaks lend themselves easily to bringing a kid along?


I'm still really leaning toward the Native Mariner. I have a 6 year old boy who's getting better with a rod and reel. That back deck area on the Mariner sure looks like a good spot to put a cooler and a kid trolling as I peddel and cast. Not sure how long he'll want to be on the water so we'll try in the neighborhood ponds before we ever venture out any distance.

[tefishmaster]

I think Castaway has one for sale, Reelrebel has one you can send him a message I'm sure he would talk to you about the pros/cons

[Joker]

I have a 10yr old son (Cody) who is a member of the club and fishes alone, stays with in sight of me, in a 10' sit in Pelican. He has been yaking solo for over a year. Does great.
We will soon be looking to get at least a 12' sit on top yak.

[Reel Tachy Fishing]

My son is 5 and he sits in the bow of my PA....granted his trips are shorter and tailored to him. This weekend we will go to Bayou St John and just ride around and try to catch a few Rios

[Coomz]

I've taken my daughter fishing twice. she's 8 years old. Both times we went in my hobie outfitter. She sits in the front while i sit in the back. Lots of room for her to move around and even lie day and take a nap if she wanted to. It also works great as a single.

[Hobie1Kenobie]

I started taking my 8 year old daughter and 5 year old son out with me. My 8 year old has no problems handling my Outback all by herself and absolutely loves being out in the marsh. She has tried to hit me up on more than one occassion to give her the Outback. My son on the other hand, though he loves being out on the water, isn't quite tall enough for his own just yet. The 8 year old has the attention span to actually fish but the 5 year old quickly turns his attention to things beside casting.

It's wonderful for me to bring them out, get some one on one time with them and teach them to appreciate something besides television.

[marshdaddy]

My grandson is not quite old enough for one of his own.
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj94/marshdaddy/2010_1003Camping-Indian_Creek0026.jpg

Sometimes we just tow him.
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj94/marshdaddy/2010_1003Camping-Indian_Creek0008.jpg

[revredfish]

I have three kids: 5, 7, 9. The 9 year old paddles his own Native Manta Ray 11 pretty well. I moved the foot rest a little for him. I keep a 3 foot rope with caribeeners handy when he needs a little tow. He's landed a pair of fish on his own. The 7 year old tries pretty hard but needs towing or I pur her in the back of my Prowler big game instead of my milkcrate. We just bring two rods and keep it simple.

The five year old is pretty kinetic. I keep him in my lap and we do short trips - real short. I need to make more time for them all it's pretty hard.

Family day is a great time to see all the families and get the kids in the water. We haven't planned it yet but I know it is a new standard event because it was such a big deal last year.

[revredfish]

http://www.bckfc.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1709
my daughter and I

[revredfish]

http://www.bckfc.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1715

the youngest

[revredfish]

http://www.bckfc.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=1707

And the whole crew but that is also the oldest and his ride. The manta ray 11 is an amazing little boat. I fish from it too. As does my wife. It's a wet ride for a big boy like me but it is a surprisingly fast, nimble boat. I rigged them myself and bought them at a steep discount.

[4x4fishin]

Awsome guys thanks. I bought the Mariner today at Pack and Paddle. I'll do a few solo laps in the pond in the morning and then we'll see what we can rig up for my Son. The back of that thing really has some room. I think I can set up a nice seat or cooler/seat for him in the back. He'll be able to face forward or back.

[ijuswannafish]

Congrats on the new ride. Now you just need to slime it to break it in right.

[theoldcaster]

you have a great rig now, get that boy fishing

[swamppro]

After pp8 I am going to start taking my almost 4 yr old with me. He has room to play around in the open fisherman. A I will probably take him to placed like magnolia.

swamppro mobilized!!!!

[yak-aholic]

Magnolia is awesome. Very little boat traffic and should at least produce a couple reds to get em hooked. I've been talking about taking mine down there to start paddling his own yak (my old castaway) around

[4x4fishin]

Ok first trip with kids report. After buildint a trailer/dolly all morning and early afternoon while my son kept up the "are you done yet" mantra going we finnaly got in the watter. I must have made a dozen lengths of the lakes with every combination of neighborhood kid on the boat. It will certainly do just fine with my son in the front, and my neighbors kid in the back. We even caught a few perch with 2 kids and me in the boat. My wife also took it out with two kids onboard and had no issue. The kids loved it and it was really easy to cruise along. You do have to counter stear for the dragging feet though.

[Redwolf]

My daughter's first big ugly.
http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/download/file.php?id=88230&mode=view

And her second....
http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/download/file.php?id=88231&t=1

This was her second trip out with me using my Frenzy, she is 15 and thanks to those fish, hooked.

[Yak-a-Lou]

I think one of the most important things with the younger kids is to keep it short... at least as short as THEY want it. WACT mentioned bringing extra snacks. A coloring book isn't a bad idea but I always refused the electronic games.

The thing is, don't make it miserable for them. I like to start kids off chasing bream so they experience easy success.

How to ruin a kid - bring him/her on a loooooooong boooooooooring and unsuccessful trip.

[fishNfreak]

My dad takes me fishing and I am 11 y/o. I go to all of the tournaments that he does. I have a freedom hawk 12'

[revredfish]

Keep fishn fishfreak!

One of my all-time favorite days was fishing with my son, and my dad. We caught about 3 fish but one will live in family memory for generations. Wish I could find the pics but the short of it is that my son then 7 caught a 25 inch red that pulled him and his tiny pelican zest all over the place. The picture of him with the fish and my dad is one of my all time favorites.

Plan is for my family to join me at weigh in this year. We will fish Sunday. Means we'll be doing "House Church" somewhere around BobbyLynn's Sunday morning. now this is really the last post. Off to spend some time with my wife before I head down the road.

[valvguy1]

Keep fishn fishfreak!

One of my all-time favorite days was fishing with my son, and my dad. We caught about 3 fish but one will live in family memory for generations. Wish I could find the pics but the short of it is that my son then 7 caught a 25 inch red that pulled him and his tiny pelican zest all over the place. The picture of him with the fish and my dad is one of my all time favorites.

Plan is for my family to join me at weigh in this year. We will fish Sunday. Means we'll be doing "House Church" somewhere around BobbyLynn's Sunday morning. now this is really the last post. Off to spend some time with my wife before I head down the road.

Have fun........... Be Careful Rev. See ya down there.