Wisconsin boasts more than 15,000 lakes and 84,000 miles of streams and rivers all ripe for a pole-bending adventure for the whole family.
And with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource’s free fishing weekend coming up on June 4th and 5th, and a long stretch of summer ahead of us, now is a great time to take your kids fishing.
Fishing has been a staple activity in both my and my wife’s families for our entire lives, and I’ve picked up some basic tips to make your outing memorable and exciting for kids and adults alike.
The first and foremost tip I can give parents is to keep it simple and lower your expectations for things going exactly to plan. This particular tip is probably most applicable to parents who regularly go fishing as their hobby, sans children. Bringing your kids along is just as rewarding, if not more so, than your solo pursuits, especially when you see their faces light up over even the smallest of catches. However, it’s important to note that waking your kid up at 5 a.m. to chase after spawning walleyes in the early April cold and rain isn’t necessarily the best route to go.
Fortunately, all you need to go fishing is a pier, clear shoreline or riverbank; a pole, hook, sinker and bobber; and a container of nightcrawlers from your local bait shop and you’re set. Open up the fold-up lawn chairs, break open the snacks and enjoy the day.
Additionally, remember that it’s not all about the fishing. I’ve heard my daughter reminisce to others about going fishing — and her story mostly consisted of how big of a stack of shoreline rocks she had made.
Let your kids lead the adventure … within reason, of course. I’m an avid fisherman myself, but since I’ve been bringing my daughter along more frequently, I’ve found that some of my more species-specific targeting has gone by the wayside and been replaced by keeping it simple and letting my daughter lead the adventure.
For example, this past spring my daughter and I were frequenting the same shoreline spot on a local stretch of the Wisconsin River and had been catching our fair share of redhorse suckers. The redhorse sucker is a respectable, clean water and native species of fish, but is not particularly known as fine table fare among Wisconsin anglers.
However, on one sunny evening my daughter, who is no stranger to a good fish fry, insisted that we keep every single one of these redhorse suckers, and knowing we were well within the regulations, I obliged.
Heading home with a cooler full of these less-than-desirable fish that I let a four-year-old talk me into keeping had me a bit, Now what the heck am I going to do with these things? But when we got home, I did some googling and YouTubing and was able to make some of the finest wild rice fish patties I’d ever eaten. The whole family loved them and my daughter was so proud that she provided us with a meal. If I had not let her lead and gone with what I thought was best, that memory would not have been created.
Wisconsin offers a lot of public access to its waters — utilize it! Public access, with respect to fishing in the state, can be found on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website, with information on places to fish with kids specifically.
When it comes to a family fishing adventure, you might find you have the most fun if you let go of your parental desire to run the show and let your kids take the reins.
– Max Kulick
Max Kulick is a structural engineer for the state of Wisconsin. He lives with his two kids and wife in Mount Horeb. In his free time he enjoys hunting and fishing, and tries to involve his kids however he can. You can follow their outdoor family adventures at @kulicksbynature on Instagram.