Just because National Fishing Week has drawn to a close doesn’t mean you still can’t take a young person fishing this summer!
Instead of your kids sitting in front of the boob-tube, wouldn’t it be more enjoyable for everyone to plan a fishing adventure with friends and family?
Hitting the water with fishing rod in hand is the sort of thing I did as a child, and what I still enjoy doing with my own kids. Unfortunately the trend today is moving away from outdoor recreation.
I really think we need to do something about that!
The key to success, I’ve found, when fishing with young people is to keep it simple, make it fun and focus on the thrill of the catch.
My girls love nothing more than joining me on the water to ‘drown a few worms’ and perhaps pull-in some sunfish and rock bass, but I always make sure not to stay out too long and to make it interesting.
It can be a great time had by all so long as you keep it fun, and choosing the right spot sometimes can be half the battle.
For those looking for a place to go this summer, here is a couple of great fishing locations put together by the SUN’s Don Wilcox.
1) Morris Island Conservation Area – off Morris Island Rd. near Galetta (20mins west of Ottawa).
Located on the Ottawa River, this spot has a causeway cutting through a bay, and anglers can walk right along the causeway fishing off both sides. Great panfish, bass, pike, and even long nosed gar (Don’s son Jamie caught one of these throwbacks to the dinosaur age when he was about 10 …the gar was about 7-8 lbs) There are also some walleye and muskie to be found at Morris Island.
Boating, however, is NOT recommended here because of strong currents due to the nearby hydro dam. There is a nature trail, a nice fishing platform in centre of the bay and lots of room for other activities if the kids want a break from fishing.
2) Kars Fairgrounds or the Kars Dock in south Ottawa. The dock is on the Rideau and can be a busy spot, but the fishing is great for everything from panfish to bass, walleye, pike and muskie. It’s at the end of Old Wellington St. in Kars.
Just around the corner is the Kars Fairground (off Rideau Valley Dr.). Another super spot because when the kid’s tire of fishing, there’s tons of space for games, picnicking, etc. There’s lots of panfish along the shore as well as bass and some pike.
All are easily accessible for anglers without boats. They are close by too, so you don’t have to drive far, and there are lots of fish so even novice anglers should be able to make a few catches.
There’s the usual conservation area fee to access Morris Island. Fishing at the Kars spots is free. Good parking at the fairgrounds, but you might have to walk a ways to fish at the dock.
Hey, if you know of any other great fishing spots where you like to bring the kids, please feel free to drop me a line:
Hey Jeff
Dow’s Lake is a terrific spot to get kids fishing with the abundance of panfish. The annual Kids Fishing Day on the weekend saw plenty of young anglers having a blast. One other spot I like to fish, “in the city” is between Hogs Back and the Bank Street Bridge. At this time of year, the water is low and you’ll find panfish and smallmouth bass.
Ed
Thanks Ed for the comment..I will be doing something soon on your fishing radio show with the Team 1200!
OK Folks…we must be doing something right; they just put our Outdoors Guy Banner back up on the front page!
Let’s keep things going so we can remain the Ottawa SUN’s most popular Blog (not that it’s a competition or anything)
Send in those local hotspots!
Outdoorsguy
My dad also took me fishing plenty of time,s cat fish to small mouth. I kept this activity with me and still going today with friends.
You cvan also include another activity which is kinda part of fishing which is finding worms at night with the kids hehehe I swear I never thought worms would be that active during the night. They seem to all come out at the same time…they strech as long as they can without leaving their little hole and feeding. Its quite a show to see..oh and the biggest trill is to try to catch them before they retract back in their holes 🙂
Have fun this summer catching a big one and dont froget pics!
Hey CC, its so funny you should mention picking ‘night crawlers’..my youngest daughter who’s 8 is really into that. She always asks me in the spring when we can go pick some..I usually get a bunch before my big trout fishing trip in May.
And then on hot rainy evenings during the summer…she’d say; “Daddy, I bet this would be a great night for night crawlers!” because, of course, I taught her well and those nights are the best time to find big old dew worms!
Its funny the things you never forget as a child..like my Dad bringing me out for night crawlers..and then me passing it along to my own children.
That’s what its all about..and its neat to hear you’ve done it as well!
Outdoorsguy
I’ve been taking my kids fishing since they were old enough to hold a fishing rod, one thing I figured out right away, they don’t care what they are catching, as long as they are catching. At our old cottage there was a lot of pan fish and Bass so it was great for taking them out for an hour or so. The worst thing you can do is make them fish longer than they want to, a lot of times they would get tired of it after an hour and end up playing in the water or making sand castles, but you should have seen the grins on their faces when they caught a fish. PRICELESS
Iggy, you hit the nail on the head!
If I had a prize or something, I’d probably give it to you….course, you have enough already
Outdoorsguy
got a mitt full of Walleye last weekend too, between 160-180. Of course most were thrown back, a few for a big fish fry and some to bring home. I tried a new beer batter that I bought at Metro (can I say that) and it was really good. Going to try to get up there again this summer. Guess who was in the front? My son who used to do the one hour pan fishing trips at the cottage, now that he’s grown up he has a lot more patcience, but he also drinks my beer LOL
Had a ball.
Thanks Iggy..I was waiting for that report actually. And hey dont worry, you can say Metro here any time you like.
So, lots of blues then..what about pike, did the young lad show you how to catch those too?
Outdoorsguy
caught a few pike, nothing real big, maybe 4 lbs, one was caught because it wouldn’t let go of a small Walleye we were bringing in, we let it go. Another my son got while pulling in a small Walleye, and it was big, it let go right at the boat, he loosened the line and the pike came back and grabbed it a second time, but again let go at the boat. It’s probably illeagal using a game fish to catch a pike but we wern’t trying to, it just happened, and we put them back, although the smaller Walleye were a little bruised.
no place on here to put a report, and by putting it here I’m kind of railroading a good thread
You should start an on line forum LOL
Sounds like a big northern..and yes, it is quite illegal to use game fish as bait to catch another game fish..even
if its only a perch.
What, you railroad a good thread? Never!
Outdoorsguy
Hey Jeff i had the kidds out in the boat fishing , i took them to one of the spots we know they caught a pile of big perch and some nice small mouths . If you have a boat and you don’t want the kidds to be board put the boat in at the end of Blair road go down river and head between the islands and you will see an old light house beacon drop anchor about 10 feet away down river and watch the fun , good luck you trying to fish you will be busy putting bait on there lines . PS you did not make it for coffee and the birds were back . well thats what she told me . lol .
I agree. Fishing with the kids is a thing of the past. I would like nothing better than to share quality time with the family in some of these fun places. I will have to suggest this to my wife.
I found with my kids that shore or dock fishing the way to go because if they got bored they could explore the shoreline; play with the frogs crayfish etc.. it diidnt matter what they caught as long as they were getting bites and landing the odd one. we were lucky because we could be at the castor or nation rivers in minutes from home. and we would visit my parents cottage on the quebec side. But i still have a soft spot for shore fishing, my grandfather brought me fishing for the first time on the carp river when i was about 6 or7 the same spot he used to bring my mom when she was young and when he was to old to drive very far i repaid the favour by bringing him. my youngest and i still do lots of fishing that way. we did some bushwacking to an isolated creek this spring to see if we could find some trout.but my best advice for someone taking young kids out for the first time ,patience, leave your own rod at home if youre with more than one kid, and give them some options when they need a breaklike a snack or let them play on shore and bring a camera. take a kid fishing you wont regret it
Thanks for all the great comments. Doing ANYTHING with your kids will create great memories, but getting outside to do things like fishing, biking, hiking, camping, boating just seems to create more really special moments.
With so many fun things for them to do indoors nowadays, it’s great for us to encourage our kids to get out the door and enjoy the sunshine and great outdoors.
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