I’ve had my fair share of fishing in Ontario, but this trip was unique in that I got to see it from the point of view of my young children. Yale (4) and Tiger (1), have accompanied me to Milton, then up to Manitoulin Island, then back down and east to Prince Edward County and then finally Kingston.

To say it was a whirlwind trip is an understatement. We clocked in over 2000 kms in 9 days and fished for bluegills, rainbow trout, small mouth bass, lake trout and walleye. Yale and Tiger took part in every activity and were happy campers throughout almost hundred percent of the time. This was mostly to be expected as they’ve lived a life of adventure and travel since day one, but even still, I was impressed considering the gruelling schedule. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that we were ALL having fun. Adults and children alike.

Here’s a breakdown of our family fishing adventures with a few “taking kids fishing” tips tossed in!

Fishing for Bluegill on Papa’s bass boat. — **Mariko can you tell me the brand of your shoes, shorts, and shirt?

Private lake in Milton and Princess Point in Hamilton:

There’s no denying our family has a clear advantage when it comes to taking your kids fishing, for a variety of reasons, including because we have access to some private lakes locally. So there’s not much to say with regards to tips on this particular location but what I will pass on is the probably obvious fact to most of you which is that taking your kids fishing on a bass boat is really hard! It’s actually fine if your kids are older but in our case with Tiger only being one and a half, it was quite the project just keeping him and all of our belongings on board! Tiger loves to throw things and he made sure to throw the net, the gulp (scent for the bait), the bait, and snacks all into the water so we had a lot of extra work with the net cut out for us. Moral of the story, scoop it up if you have really small kids and then try getting access to a deeper boat!

Princess Point Catfish

After the private lake excursion we drove over to Hamilton and parked at Princess Point which is actually just down the street from my old high school. It turns out however that the landscape is totally different from when I was a kid and in fact my dad and I couldn’t find the access points to the lake where we once fished with all of our neighbourhood friends back in the day. We followed some guys with fishing rods down the paved boardwalk and they brought us to a spot underneath a bridge where it turns out there’s a whole little community of people who go there and spend the day cat fishing. Yale had a great time watching everybody and she learned quite a bit. She even made friends and got some fresh corn to use on the hooks to try to catch a catfish. We were not set up for catfish as we were trying to go for bluegills like we did when we were kids. We didn’t catch anything but it was certainly a fun time getting to see this new community and to toss a line on shore in a very urban setting.

My tip for local spots and every spot really is, pack more snacks than you think you’ll need for the kids so that when their attention wanes they have something to distract themselves with. It’s also just a good bet to keep them in a happy mood.

Manitoulin Island

Manitoulin Island. This was an adventure as it was very far from home and we met a whole new set of people. We were hooked up with the chief Duke, who happens to have a pontoon boat which is the ultimate for taking kids fishing. There was so much space for little Tiger to run back-and-forth and he couldn’t jump out so we were able to focus on the fishing a lot more which was nice.

The chief, Duke, was so incredible with Yale. Right off the bat he rigged up her pink Shakespeare rod with the appropriate gear. Although the fishing was slow to start once the bite picked up Yale was catching bass after bass on her pink rod with mine and the Chiefs help. She took part in all of the steps from casting the line, to setting the hook, to reeling in the fish. And Tiger had a great day watching his sister fish and eating snacks.

My tip for this one is specifically if you’re in the Manitoulin Area connect with Wass tours and they will make sure that you have somebody reputable and professional to take you fishing. I don’t know that you’ll get as lucky as us and have the chief take you out (!!) but you will be set up nicely and have a great day.

My tip for this one is specifically if you’re in the Manitoulin Area connect with Wass tours and they will make sure that you have somebody reputable and professional to take you fishing. I don’t know that you’ll get as lucky as us and have the chief take you out ha ha but you will be set up nicely and have a great day.

Prince Edward County

Next up, was Prince Edward County. We hooked up with a longtime friend of the Izumi’s, Scott from Bay of Quinty Charters. Scott has been fishing for walleye for a long long time and recently his 13-year-old daughter has been joining him on the boat as his first mate. We had a great couple of days fishing with Scott out of Picton, Ontario. The first day we went for juvenile walleye because they are good fish to eat. Also as with any type of fishing it was easier for Yale to take the reigns with smaller fish. Scott’s boat is very conducive to having children on board as he has an entire cabin with a spot for them to play and lay in, and a bench for eating and a sink and a bathroom. A day out on the water like this would be a perfect addition to anyone travelling to, or vacationing in Prince Edward County. The launch point is so close to all of the other fun stuff in the area. In fact we took our juvenile Walleye we caught that day to a restaurant just around the corner and cooked our catch which was incredible. More on that later.

Kingston - Rideau Bay and Lake Ontario

Lastly, we ended our trip with a nostalgia dive in Kingston, Ontario. My dad met us for this one and he took the bass boat out again. Repeat: these types of boats make for a more challenging fishing day with the very small kids but in the end we are a bass fishing family so we make it work! We went to Rideau Bay just outside of Kingston and caught a bunch of bluegill as well as bass. And it should be noted that this was Tigers third or fourth time in a bass boat within a week and just as with everything, they learn so fast. This is to say that although you always have to have an eye on the tiny one, practice makes perfect. By the end of that night Tiger was holding the rods the appropriate way and throwing less things off the boat ha ha.

We ended our trip with a morning right in Kingston on Lake Ontario and as we floated by my old university stomping grounds as well as the old bass fishing tournaments sights, I couldn’t help but feel a flood of emotions and nostalgia. True to form we caught some really nice (smallmouth) bass and then hopped off the water satisfied and ready to golf. Also more on that later!

Last tip for fishing with kids, involve them in any step possible. My dad early on started letting Yale put her own small bait on the hook and by the end of the trip she was confidently doing that and markedly enjoying that process.