TOPIC:

My son is 1 year 3 months old. How old was your kid/kids when u started fishing with them on LM? I want to start bringing mine out but I have a couple problems in my mind. No really good shade on my boat being one of them.
Another is how to keep him busy and happy so I don't have to come in after 1 or 2 hours of boating.

You have identified two good concerns. There is a product called Anchor Shade that may help provide a way to get them out of the sun. As for keeping them busy It can be tough and I didn’t want them to hate fishing so sometimes you just need to call it early. One thing that worked for me was agreeing to take them to the beach for a couple hours after we fish if they behaved. Get out early do your best to get fish going then pull up to a beach and let them have fun. Mine are now 11 and 15 and they love to fish but if it’s a slow day they get bored so we hit the beach. Biggest turn off for kids are when the flies are bad. I remember one time they were both crying as they were basically being tortured by flies. Time to go when that happens. Lol

Thanks for the info! I will look into that anchor shade for sure! How old was your kids when you first started bringing them out? A nice calm day on lake Michigan seems to be ok for my guy but anything even close to waves I start to worry a little

My boys are 8 and 12, the oldest started coming out when he was about 4 when we fished lake erie. That was primarily due to the. Boat size we had then.... the oldest now is g ed tying really good at setting lines but when that done they both will be playing on the tablet or phone until it's fish on.. as mentioned below, when the flies are bad it just sucks..

My son was 4 and daughter 8 when we started taking them on lake mich fishing. From the time they were born we had them on the Pontoon on Pine Lake.

Webster3 wrote:

My boys are 8 and 12, the oldest started coming out when he was about 4 when we fished lake erie. That was primarily due to the. Boat size we had then.... the oldest now is g ed tying really good at setting lines but when that done they both will be playing on the tablet or phone until it's fish on.. as mentioned below, when the flies are bad it just sucks..

Thanks alot! By the way I seen u going out of portage a couple weeks ago. I was coming back in when u heading out to LM. Beautiful rig man. Me and the 2 guys talked about it pretty much the whole ride home! Haha

My 10 month old has been doing really well on the lake. Hard top for the sun helps a lot. Had to cover him head to toe today for the flys. He really feeds off the excitement when we get a fish on.

My oldest is now 11 and since he was 2 ish he’s been part of just about everything!!!!! When he was still little I’d have to strap down everything otherwise he’d fling everything into the lake!!! Besides that he’s a spitting image of me of fish for 14 hrs lol and hit the dock and still fish there some more!! lol. He’s the same way!!! We fish inside of 60 fow most time of the year so if the fish push off shore were always Persuing panfish bite ANYWHERE!!! We’re avid hunters and avid fisherman and I’ve always brought him along with for everything!! He’s starting to learn to fillet fish only cuz he’s insisted for the longest time!! I’ve got a 6 year old who is starting to catch up to his brother!!! As far as trolling on slow days they both will play with the fish in the livewell for litterly hrs til the next bite...!!! I’ll include them on the starting lineup for lures..... what colors they think we should run and best part is when we get one on their lure choice they get even more excited about it!!!

Anytime! Looking back now, there were times I took my oldest out on Erie in a 15' starcraft hindsight not a good idea. But I guess my excitement to take him fishing got the best of me.

Thanks for the comment of the boat, you wouldn't believe the looks you get going into the lake most of the people are a mix of WTF is this guy doing and confusion lol... super stable runs good, totally functional for the family, down side is no cover when it's cold.

First time i had my kids on lake Michigan? Yesterday and they are in their 20's. Lol of course I just started fishing the big pond last year. But my boys were 5 and 2 when i had them in a boat fishing.