New to fishing plus a kid

[EPS]

These videos I posted should help you out .
I watch these guys all the time and they are in the PNW.
They have thousands of videos every thing from trout to salmon halibut what ever .

 

[EPS]

The only thing I disagree with in these videos is the way he ties the braided line.
I never use a basic fisherman's knot on braided line.
It will slip out you will have to look up knots for braided line .
Or just use mono or florocarbon.

 

[Flymph]

I picked up a fly rod at about 10, best to start them off young. There is a stocking schedule for your state at WDFW.com... maybe WDFG, Oregon is ODFW...
I would pick up a book or two, actually that's what I did... read everything I could get my hands on. I got my dad into fishing too.

Places to Fish has an Oregon and Washington edition, it will tell you where to fish for what and how to get there.

Fresh Water Fishing is also a good introductory book, it tells you what types of fish there are and how to best fish for them.

Then there is the bible, I mean Ray Bergman's Trout... 3rd most printed piece of literature after Shakespeare... it's all about fishing for Trout, and probably still one of the best books out there.

Watching shows will help a lot. Anglerwest is on TV and youtube, and these ADDICTED ANGLING guys are cool too. Both have a variety of

You should probably start with a worm and bobber at a lake. Panfish are a ton of fun, and so are stocked trout. If you want variety of bait, salmon eggs and powerbait work fine too. Meal or wax worms are killer live bait for those species. Shrimp will even work, but be careful of Big'ns!
Once he gets a little older you can teach him to fish rivers, and maybe even do some salmon fishing before the species goes extinct.


GOOD LUCK!

 

[DirectDrive]

Pond or lake fishing would be the easiest type of water for n00bs getting started.
Open face spinning reel for older kids, closed face push button reel for little kids.
Decent rod with sensitive tip.
Worms.....lots of worms.
Monofilament line for beginners.

Silver Lake might be a place for you.

Silver Lake (Cowlitz County)

This lake provides good fishing for Black Crappie, Bluegill, Brown Bullhead, Largemouth Bass, Pumpkinseed, Warmouth, White Crappie and Yellow Perch. There are coho and steelhead that use Hemlock and Sucker creeks. Catchable Rainbow Trout are planted in the spring. There is a large population of...

wdfw.wa.gov

 

[Flymph]

PS: buy some ugly sticks in ultra light and a decent reel from shimano or Penn for around $50... spend $100 on gear and you'd be fine until you got the itch...
$300 could get you both fishing indefinitely.

 

[EPS]

PS: buy some ugly sticks in ultra light and a decent reel from shimano or Penn for around $50... spend $100 on gear and you'd be fine until you got the itch...
$300 could get you both fishing indefinitely.

I love my Penn reels I have a Shimano also.
Penn persuit lll and ll.

 

[EPS]

Amazon.

 

[Flymph]

Pond or lake fishing would be the easiest type of water for n00bs getting started.
Open face spinning reel for older kids, closed face push button reel for little kids.
Decent rod with sensitive tip.
Worms.....lots of worms.
Monofilament line for beginners.

Silver Lake might be a place for you.

Silver Lake (Cowlitz County)

This lake provides good fishing for Black Crappie, Bluegill, Brown Bullhead, Largemouth Bass, Pumpkinseed, Warmouth, White Crappie and Yellow Perch. There are coho and steelhead that use Hemlock and Sucker creeks. Catchable Rainbow Trout are planted in the spring. There is a large population of...

wdfw.wa.gov

There used to be a dock you could pay to use that was loaded with crappie in the fall, right across from the convenience store on the southwest side of the lake (i think it was).

 

[Flymph]

Amazon.View attachment 648822

The Penn Battle II is what I use, but my little Shimano reels I had as a kid are still going strong. I think they cost $25 back then.
The pursuit looks like a fine reel for the job!

 

[EPS]

The Penn Battle II is what I use, but my little Shimano reels I had as a kid are still going strong. I think they cost $25 back then.
The pursuit looks like a fine reel for the job!

Is that the one with the red on it .
If so I have one but it's the really big one .
Not for trout.

 

[EPS]

Nope I found it the battle is gold the ferice is red.

 

[Flymph]

I have a 3000, it's for trout... just really big trout.

The 2500 size is great all around for freshwater tho.

 

[halo2]

Pond or lake fishing would be the easiest type of water for n00bs getting started.
Open face spinning reel for older kids, closed face push button reel for little kids.
Decent rod with sensitive tip.
Worms.....lots of worms.
Monofilament line for beginners.

Silver Lake might be a place for you.

Silver Lake (Cowlitz County)

This lake provides good fishing for Black Crappie, Bluegill, Brown Bullhead, Largemouth Bass, Pumpkinseed, Warmouth, White Crappie and Yellow Perch. There are coho and steelhead that use Hemlock and Sucker creeks. Catchable Rainbow Trout are planted in the spring. There is a large population of...

wdfw.wa.gov

This is the way I'd go. I'd bring a way to ID each kind of fish because chances are the kid will ask.

 

[DirectDrive]

And then the kids at school are going to eventually be bragging about the salmon and steelhead that they caught with their Dads.
So, you'll have to continue to learn methods/tactics to up your game.
Many a great fisherman came from a home without a fishing tradition.
Make it a new tradition and your boy will have memories that will last for the rest of his life.



Open Division #17
Curado Modifieds (direct drive)

 

[mkwerx]

I have a couple rod & reel combos I am willing to donate to the fishing noobs, if you're willing to drive down & get them. I can set you up with some basic tackle as well. The rods & reels aren't the fanciest, but when you're just learning, that's a secondary concern. Its really cool you & your kiddo want to get into the sport - I'm a huge fishing nut, and its something thankfully I can share with my family. I started my son off as soon as he could hold a rod and work the reel. He's 8 now, and he's advanced from the push button type reels to spinning reels, and he has his own fly rod.

PM me if you're interested in my offer.

 

[bbbass]

Things I learned from teaching my own kids & grandkids to fish.

1. Lake fishing for trout is best for noobs.
2. For really little ones, kindergarten age, one rod is best, not two.
3. Dad casts rod out for the little one.
4. Very young kids are easily bored, don't expect their interest to last past 5-10 minutes. Therefore:
5. Bring an electronic game for them to amuse themselves until YOU hook a fish for them to reel in. After that, they will be hooked and have interest for another 5-10min.
6. Use a bobber that you and the kid can watch... it's one of the best strike indicators. Don't try to feel a bite when starting out. Use a strike indicator. You can also rig up for bottom fishing with a slip sinker and a floating bait.
7. Powerbait, Berkely worms or grubs. They float. No noobie I've ever met, much less a kid, wants to be handling worms much less skewering them on a hook. Especially true with daughters.
8. So Dad watches the bobber to pop under the surface, or even disappear, or when bottom fishing for the rod to twitch or the line to start moving around. This requires a rod holder and a chair. Dad hooks the fish and then lets the kid reel it in. Get a trout sized net to make things easier.
9. Beyond vids, books, magazines, start going to the lake. Watch where others set up to fish, how they fish, their gear, what they do and how successful they are compared to others. Strike up some conversations, especially with old guys... we love to share (show off how much we know).
10. Have fun. If it's not fun somehow, someway, some manner, the kid won't want to go again. If the kid likes to talk, have conversation about fun stuff.
11. If not going to catch and release, have a stringer to keep fish in the water, a small bat or short curtain rod to stun/kill the fish or a gill knife to bleed them out quickly, (please Do Not let the fish just die on their own gasping on the bank out of the water, this is inhumane!!!), and a small filet knife. Watch some howto vids on cleaning fish. Decide ahead of time whether you will want the kid to watch or not. For me, it was part of teaching the cycle of life but one daughter really couldn't take it and the other was to engrossed in it.

 

[EPS]

I hope our OP is still around.
Lol he's probably busy watching all the videos I posted.
Hehehehe

 

[No_Regerts]

I'm not too far from your neck of the woods. I'd be more than happy to help you out. I fish all over Lewis county. Shoot me a PM if interested.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I grew up in Tacoma myself, and went fishing maybe less than a dozen times in my life. Last year I moved to Lewis County (WA) and the way of life is a bit different down here. I have a son in kindergarten and he talks with his classmates about fishing with their dads and now he is asking me about fishing. It's a hobby I have been interested in but I really have no clue where to start. Walking down the fishing isles at the sporting goods shop or even Walmart is a bit intimidating with countless options.

Wanting to get involved with a kid is there really a best route to go? I would only be interested in freshwater fishing, but I am not even sure lake vs river and if one would be easier for a kid to learn? We don't have a boat so it would be shore fishing only.

Any pointers for a newbie with a little newbie tagging along?

Also wondering about cost, could I get us both decently outfitted for a couple hundred bucks or would that just end up being low end gear I regret buying in a year or two?

Thanks in advance!

If it were me I would start with the easiest (most boring though ha ha). From order to easiest to most complex you could do any of the following:

Guided:

Keep it simple and find a guided trip for kid type fishing (think lots of fish and activity for the day, not 1 prize salmon fe.). Costs money but u will get fish. Also tag along with coworkers or whoever that knows where to go and how to fish for them.

Independent:

1) go to a smaller lake where they "plant" fish for opening day. Use the fake fish bait they sell (can't remember the name it's like play dough in a jar). That first day and maybe second kids will catch 1-8 fish. Also there are private fishing lakeS where u are guaranteed to catch fish not just on opening weekend. Costs $, but is a good place to start.

2) go to same places as #1 but borrow or rent small boat with electric motor for fun. Can do this later on of course maybe not right away due to added complexity of dealing with boat.

3) go to somewhere known to have high amounts of smallmouth bass in the spawning season such as a river after temp gets warm enough. You can use whatever plastics they r using on that river and have a great fight on ur hands for small and very easy to catch fish. Ask local fish shops what they r using for that river.

Imo go to where it's simple and easy (Boring but fun for kiddo) and u will get fish. The more difficult and more rewarding fishing trips can come later. Fish for one kind of fish and one type of fishing first. Then when they know how to do that u can try a different species and type of fish. Guided or with knowledegable folks will get u/kids up to speed for one type of fish and waterbody in one trip, so it's a great place to start imo.

in regards to cost, a basic couple poles/reels and tackle for simple put-and-take trout fishing is about $100 without license I would guess. But u can reuse tackle boxes, line, and poles for other types of fishing. Fe u can add smallmouth tackle for maybe $40 for basic stuff (hooks, weights, plastics a couple crank baits).

Don't go cheap on the line, that will make it a royal pain in so many ways. also learn how to tie a nail knot to attach line to hook as that will save lots of lost fish.

Spend ur time on learning the proper techniques and places (ie find knowledgeable poeople or friend or whoever or go to private paid lake to start for put-and-take simple fishing), not via trial and error of guessing what might work and possibly fishing where there are no fish as that can discourage some kids (later on that's part of the adventure ha ha!).

also keep in mind you can also go to
Mountain streams in some areas and catch tiny brook trout in creek pools. They will bite on anything cuz those headwater streams are often very limited in food supply. Think worms!

 

[cbzdel]

Wow I am completely blow away by the amount of responses I got on this. I am going to spend some time this evening and go over it all and watch the videos posted. Thanks for all the pointers guys!!