I remember my Father taking me and my brother fishing at a young age. My Father came from a family of fishermen and fisherwomen. Everyone in the family loved to go fishing. While we fished from shore or in a boat on many ponds and lakes some of my favorite times were fishing in the streams in Northwest CT and Vermont. When we hit a good spot, for me it was always near a bridge, I wouldn’t leave. We would fish for about 20-30 minutes at a spot, hop in the truck and move on to the next spot. We always had a great time.

Another favorite spot of mine was at a local pond. It was called a pond but it was very large. It was a deep pond and had plenty of room to fish from shore around almost half of it. We would go there on weekend mornings but also sometimes when my Dad would get home from work. Those were fun nights especially in the summer. We would fish until 7 or 8 pm and then head back home to get cleaned up and get in bed. It was great bonding time and of course it was even better when the fish were biting.

Now that I am a Dad I take my young daughter fishing. We also go to a local pond. We get to hike through the woods to our favorite spot on the far edge of the pond. It has a bench where we can set down our things and there are plenty of fish to catch. It feels like we catch something at least 7 out of 10 times we cast our lines.

Below is a list of what we take with us in a backpack so we can enjoy our time on the pond.

Snacks - The best snacks are the ones that contain easy to handle packaging so kids, usually without fishy hands, can open the package by themselves.

Water - Staying hydrated, at all times but especially on a hot day, keeps you cool and helps you maintain your energy.

Towels - Washing and wiping fishy (or wormy) hands is imperative.

Hand Sanitizer - Bring plenty. If you can’t reach the water easily enough to wash your hands use hand sanitizer before touching water bottles and snacks.

Extra Rod and Reel - The best part of fishing is having your line in the water so bring an extra rod and reel in case one gets damaged or gets a messy tangle in the line you can keep on fishing and keeps your child fishing while you fix the mess.

Clippers with Degorger - Clippers are great to have handy at all times so you can clip line after tieing a knot and most fishing clippers also have a degorger so when you have a fish hooked well you can use the degorger to reverse the hook out of your catch.

Bait - Worms work great if you can get them but sometimes in our summers the worms are way too deep under ground so we take a can of corn with us. It is definitely cleaner than worms and works pretty well plus it is easier to see so your kids can see the fish take their bait sometimes.

Polarized Sunglasses - One of the best tools to see into the water and pretty much see what the fish are doing are polarized sunglasses. I have my daughter where one of my older pairs and it allows them to see beyond the glare of the water and really see the fish swimming by clearly. This definitely makes fishing a little more fun!

One of our favorite stores we use to “gear up” is Dicks Sporting Goods. They have an excellent fishing department so each year we buy some more hooks and bobbers and fishing line. I also buy my daughter her fishing rods here. They are inexpensive which allows us to buy a new rod and reel every 2 years or so so her equipment grows as her skills grow.

I always end up learning alot about myself on our fishing trips. Being patient and kind and helping is the key to getting your kids to enjoy fishing and the outdoors. As much as I want to catch some fish too there is no bigger joy than to hear my daughters excitement in catching a fish. I don’t care if I ever catch another fish in my life. As long as my daughter is having fun, catching fish and enjoying being outdoors and hiking in the woods, it is all worth it to me.