how do you fish with a young child

[reelon]

I have been taking my girls fishing for bream and they love it. We use some gulp worm and have fun. It is to great to see their faces when they feel the fish at the end of the line.

[mgmoore7]

I fish quite often with my children (I have 3 and 1 on the way).  At this point I take my two oldest with me (son (5yrs) & daughter (3yrs)) much of the time in a 10ft jon boat using a trolling motor.  We usaually will fish for bluegill and bass.  They have their own pole and just play most of the time making up stories and pretending to catch fish.  I also keep a whole container of old plastic worms, lizards, etc in my tackle box and break that out when they get bored.  They can be occupied for another 30 minutes with that and I love to hear the stories they make up.  My daughter begs me to go fishing and my son is always asking when I am going to catch a monster.   They both love the time with their daddy and I love it too.  I definately don't get as much serious fishing done but that is not really the point.  They love to see me catch them and I am teaching them a love for fishing that will really pay off in the future.  I have taken my son out with me for up to 4 hours in the jon boat.  That is alot of time for a 5 year old in such a small area.  It just takes time to work up to that.  The first few times I took my daughter out, she was ready to go back in after about 15 minutes but just last weekend we were out for about 2 hours.  We caught bluegill and golden shiners but no bass.   They loved it.    

[bassinchik]

I am a retired Elementary School Principal and Teacher.  Statistically, elementary aged children's attention span will not exceed 20 minutes unless the adult is right there to motivate.  This means that you really should not count on wetting a line yourself.  Changing locations and even baits will keep the child interested for a longer period of time.  Also, make each catch a celebration.  Sounds corny, but such is the mind of a child.  Hope this helps.