How To Get Kids Excited to Go Fishing

If you want to know how to get a child excited to go outdoors and go fishing, here’s advice on how to get started!

My four-year old grandson is simply a joy, I am amazed by his imagination and how quickly he learns things and I have come to realize the importance of providing him with experience’s, so he has the chance to truly determine what he likes and what he wants to do as he grows up. He loves Christmas time, from going to the nursery to pick out “Piney” the name he gives his annual Christmas tree, to watching and reenacting his favorite movie, The Polar Express.

So as my wife and I were preparing for him to come visit us, I had a thought, I went down to the basement and through the clutter of over forty years of marriage I found a Lionel train set that I had bought many, many years ago and brought it into our family room. When my grandson arrived, he instantly engaged with the old dusty box with a picture of a steam engine on it. He proceeded to open the box, take out the tracks and cars form the engine to the caboose and methodically put everything together and played with it for hours.

To encourage his love of these toys from yesteryear, my wife and I took him to a local train show, with rows and rows of displays and working models, he loved every minute of it and got some neat new train toys to boot.

So, what does this have to do with fishing? Well, as a Grandparent you have a responsibility and opportunity to help your grandkids experience life. Here are some tips on how to get the kids in your life excited to go fishing:

Download Disney+ and show them some old cartoons of Goofy and Donald Duck fishing.
Take them to a fishing and boating show so they can experience all the great gear and events that occur there.
Go down to the basement or garage and bring that old dusty equipment upstairs and let them explore it.
Finally, take them out on the water and let their new-found curiosity run wild and maybe, just maybe they will enjoy it and add this experience to all the experiences they now enjoy.

I know this is exactly what I will do this spring, because what may be old to us is new to the eyes and imagination of a four-year old. If you are thinking about taking your kids fishing, check out more tips for fishing with kids , fun things you can do on weekends outdoors with your family and #getyourfishon!

How to | Tips and Tricks | Fishing | Beginner | Kids and Family

Frank Peterson

Frank Peterson is the President and CEO of the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) where he leads the charge to attract newcomers to fishing and boating through the Take Me Fishing™ and Vamos A Pescar™ campaigns. Growing up in New York, Frank learned to fish for striped bass in the Hudson River. Now a Virginia resident, he still fishes for stripers, or rockfish as they're called in that region. Off the clock, Frank enjoys downtime with his wife, Marlene, their 3 children and 2 grandchildren.