Unita Tigers

[betterthanwork]

We went up to the Unitas yesterday to beat the heat at (insert undisclosed location here) lake and had a blast. We found brookies and tigers in abundance. The best part was my 3 year old son. These were defiantly not his first fish but they were the first fish that he set the hook on and reeled in all by him self. He was a blast to watch and was so proud of himself. The Unitas are a great place to get kids hooked!
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[fish_hntr]

[quote betterthanwork]We went up to the Unitas yesterday to beat the heat at (insert undisclosed location here) lake and had a blast. We found brookies and tigers in abundance. The best part was my 3 year old son. These were defiantly not his first fish but they were the first fish that he set the hook on and reeled in all by him self. He was a blast to watch and was so proud of himself. The Unitas are a great place to get kids hooked![/quote]

Definitely sounds like a good time, and glad the fish were not being defiant....
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[betterthanwork]

thank you for pointing out my spelling blunders so discretely[]
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[downed_Phly]

I've been thinking of taking my 3-year-old as well. Any pointers for keeping them entertained when the fish aren't biting?
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[betterthanwork]

We have done a few things to keep them entertained, one of best is probably having a hammock set up for them. Each of my 3 boys have a small travel hammock and while they are waiting for the fish to bite they will play and swing in them. Especially with the younger ones, when they get tired and grumpy they have a place to take a nap. We also let them swim and play in the water. I know that seems a little counter productive to fishing but I figure they are just chasing those shallow fish to where my lines are[]. This last time we took a little bb gun up with us and that was a lot of fun. little boys can shoot pine cones off logs all day long. I would not recommend the bb gun at some of the more popular lakes but where we hiked into this one and had the place to our selves it seemed like a fun idea. For my 6 and 8 year old boys they will each bring up 100' of para-cord and a 6'x8' tarp. That will keep them busy for hours tying sticks together to try and make a fort, or a tent, or traps to catch their dad[crazy]. Another one that all my kids that age have liked is to take a frog or lizard body and put it on a small pole for them to play with. When they are little I highly recommend bending the hook into the body of the jig (this is as much for your protection as theirs). They will take the jig and try to cast, bounce it in the water, make it swim... Lets be honest, Fishing with kids is more about making good memories than fishing. Sure it is fun to see them catch a fish, but the measure of success for the trip cant be the number or size of fish that you catch and as the adult your expectation of the trip has to be focused on the kids. If you happen to catch a fish its a bonus. All of my kids are little right now so my serious fishing has taken a bit of a back seat for a few years. My hope is that if they can enjoy it when they are young, they will want to do the serious fishing when they are older. That's probably a lot more suggestions than you were looking for but I hope it helps you get your little guy out. let us know how it goes.
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[SBennett]

Excellent ideas.
My two kids are grown now and burnt out of fishing because I pushed them too hard.
I did not do the early morning snack stop or the fun things you mentioned.
In my mind I figured that being first off the ramp, limiting out, or catching big/unique fish would be their reward but little kids don't care about that stuff.
Fortunately, I figured it out in time to 'save' my grandkids.
I really like your tarp idea!
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[downed_Phly]

Dude, those are GREAT suggestions! Thanks! Love the hammock idea. Totally agree with you- not so much about catching fish as it is about making the memories.
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