any advice for taking my little one fishing

[UphillHabit]

I'm new to fishing and thinking about taking my 5-year-old out for their first trip. I've been looking at some basic rods at the store and wondering if those are decent for starters. I really want to make this a fun experience since I didn't grow up with fishing. What's a good, simple setup that works for kids? Any tips on bait or where to go would be awesome too.

 

[Bedfordboy]

For starting out with kids I'd recommend going with something like a Zebco 202 rod and reel combo, they have been around forever are simple, reliable and easy to use. Put a small weight (maybe 1/2 to 1oz.) without any hook and practice casting in your yard before hitting the water. Probably best to start with a simple float or bobber attached to your line 2-3 feet above the hook (size 6-8) depending on where you are fishing. Sunfish or crappy are always a good choice for beginners. For bait keep it simple, live bait like earth worms, night crawlers, crickets, etc. are great starters as well. If possible go to a private farm pond for the solitude but there are plenty of public ponds and lakes available in Virginia to take advantage of. Using the bobber will help keep your kids engaged as it gives them something to focus on and will alert them when they are getting a bite. Always let the fish pull the bobber under the surface before setting the hook with a smooth firm tug being careful to not pull too hard as that will pull the hook out of the fishes mouth. That's about it, now go out and create some lasting memories with your kids.

 

[Furioso]

When my kids were 5 or so, I bought each their own shorty 'cheap-o' rod, set it up w small hooks, fished from a dock at local lake/ park. Best idea was taking a 5 gal. pail to hold gear - empty it to fish, and when we caught little fish, put them in bucket w water. They really wanted to just look at and touch fish. They spent time also baiting, fishing, learning their way around tackle box, but having fish to check out engaged all the kids on the dock, many of whom were bored, dad snapping at them cause they were messing around and interrupting dad's fishing. I just wanted them to have good time/ good memories - "I went fishing and it was fun". My son is 14 now and suddenly got really interested in fishing and is all about fishing together now. I hope that the early "fishing is fun" perspective was part of developing this shared interest now. They'd engage for a good couple hours when very young, but when boredom or interest in doing something different set in, the bucket fish went back in the water, gear in bucket, bucket in car, go to the playground. Creating early positive experiences builds interest later.