Share your love of fishing with your kids.

A day out on the water is a perfect way to spend quality time with your kids in the great outdoors. Just remember that the number one goal isn't necessarily catching fish, but spending time together.

To guarantee a fun time for everyone, remember:

Let the kids have their say in how the day goes. Involve them in the decision-making process of the trip. For example, ask them what time they think you need to leave, and what kind of food and drink to take. Make them feel like it's really their trip.

Have fun. Seeing your child enjoy reeling in their first fish is rewarding. (Take lots of pictures!)

Target areas with a high likelihood of success. Most kids are satisfied catching lots of smaller fish such as bullheads rather than catching fewer, bigger fish such as trout. Catching a few fish on the first few outings will peak children’s interest and make them look forward to the next trip.

Use bait that is more likely to catch fish.

Pick a place that is easy to get to, comfortable, and safe.

Bring snacks, sunscreen, insect repellent and first aid basics. This will make your trip comfortable for everyone.

Provide them with simple tackle in working order. Nothing can be more discouraging to a child than complicated equipment or equipment that doesn’t work. Consider giving the child their own fishing outfit. This gesture is practical because short rods are easier for kids to handle. Canadian Tire has a great selection of kid's rods and we recommend getting the spin-cast rods that are fully enclosed with a hole in the top and button release.

Keep realistic expectations when taking young children fishing. Realize that children can have short attention spans and may want to move on to something else after a very short time. Try looking for bugs or animals or even skip stones across the water. You can’t expect children to have the same level of enthusiasm you do the first few trips; don’t make fishing a chore for them.

Above all else, have patience. You will be unsnagging lines, baiting hooks, and landing fish for them often. On your fishing trips with youngsters, they will get dirty, fall down or even get a little wet. By taking time to introduce children to fishing, you may end up with a fishing buddy for life.

B.C.'s Family Fishing Weekend www.BCFamilyFishing.com   B.C.'s Family Fishing Weekend is an annual celebration of the great sport of fishing. During B.C.'s Family Fishing Weekend BC residents can go fishing within the rules in many of B.C.'s lakes, streams and tidal waters. Annually our program attracts an estimated 25,000 people who go fishing during the Family Fishing Weekend around B.C.   Telephone: 1-866-655-9287     Kid Fish : http://www.kidfish.bc.ca/frames.html This site will help students and teachers learn more about our landscape, our environment, our fish and including the craft of fly fishing with children. In this site, we have limited our scope to lakes in the central and southern British Columbia, and northern Washington State. As funding becomes available, we would like to expand our coverage to include the area's rivers and streams. In the future, this site may also deal with northern British Columbia - lakes and streams that drain into the Arctic Ocean. This site is meant to help children in grades 5 to 7 learn more about their environment. It has been designed as a web-based tool so that it is accessible to a wide array of children. This project is designed to fit within the BC School Curriculum and touches on a broad number of skills identified in the curriculum outline.