How young is too young to keep fish?

[Tugcapitan]

Hey all,

Interesting popcorn subject in the reports section maybe deserves it's own thread?

Indignation from some about guys taking their toddler fishing and keeping fish on their license.

Some think its unfair or against the law if they don't reel it in.

Others think Dad's get out with toddlers so rarely that its OK, or whatever else one would say to justify it.

I'll throw my 2 cents in. I remember fishing Ballenas and Sangster islands in the late 70's when I was too young to reel one in, but I was there steering (somewhat straight when I paid attention lol). We certainly came back to the dock with 12 fish, 4 of which were "mine", which Granny and Mum smoked, or canned, or put in jars ect. Day after day, conservation was certainly not the goal then! Whether or not there were possession regs then I have no idea, but if there were the chest freezers blew them for sure!

Does it seem right to me now? Probably not.

Now I'm on the other side. I recorded in ink a Chinook on my 5 year olds license last week. Did he reel it in by himself? No.

But,
-he got up at 4:30am buzzing with excitement
-helped carry gear to the truck
-Never complained about a bumpy crossing of the Strait.
-Was cheerful all day, and fit in well with my buddies,
-reeled in some gear once the flashers had broken the surface
-had his hands on the rod a few times to feel head shakes
-stayed out of the way when requested to,
-and did some steering while trolling (to the right, THE OTHER RIGHT! lol Still working on Starboard and Port

Best of all, swelled with pride as "his" fish came off the BBQ that night and fed the family. The "men" had provided and he was pumped.

I don't feel bad about it one bit. (This is his first season with a license) In my opinion he earned that fish as a member of the crew.
On a side note I only put one on mine so technically we only came back with two, but if we'd fished all day instead of a half and come back with 4 between us, I still don't think I'd feel guilty. We might fish together 2 or 3 more times again this summer. I don't feel like I'm at odds with the law or the resource.

Haters gonna hate though so go ahead lol

 

[scott craven]

I think you're perfectly legal and should feel no remorse about taking your young son fishing
and recording and keeping both catches.
no problem IMHO

 

[bones]

Took a 5 year old out last year fishing. He was pumped, couldn't stop talking about it days ahead, couldn't sleep. I picked him up at 7am came out of the house with back pack with lunch. Couldn't stop talking how he was gonna catch the next big spring.... Lol. In the end he reeled in a ling cod halfway, couldn't get the rest. When home his mom and dad, grandparents where there. Couldn't have been a prouder little guy. Telling fishing tales about the one that got away.... Awesome. The ling was caught and gaffed by me but on his licence as it was his rod and he tried his best. I have no problem with kids getting fish on there lic so long as they are there and participating in the whole thing. Matter of fact just plane awesome watching and listening to them, makes me smile

 

[noluck]

i have anther instance of when i was young, my two sisters, mom dad and myself, ice fishing at the wac bennett dam. we limited out in 20 minuets, mom and dad never put a line down a hole, they did not have time too busy getting fish off the hooks and baiting lines. but we took the possession of fish for there licence's. but us kids did all the fishing. hmmmm a little flip of the coin

 

[ziggy]

I don't see this as a big problem if he had a license and stamp and was fishing, and I'm sure he was! It could be abused if you were loading your boat with toddlers in order to harvest more fish, but that clearly isn't the case.

If you're guilty where does it end? Is using a guides help to hook one ok? Is having someone net for you ok? I think in relative terms DFO has more important issues with rule breakers. That being said though, it seems more and more that laws are only for the law abiding. Glad you got another fisherman started.

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

My daughter 'caught' a fish when she was 7. She tried to reel it in but there were reel issues and I ended up having to do most of the work.
We did go through the process of marking her license with the fish and noting the area. This is important for several reasons - making sure you are complying, part of the process etc. This is part of fishing and a valuable thing to teach at a young age. There was a lot of pride and inclusion for her and it was really fun for her to bug me about being the only one that caught a fish that day!

 

[banger17]

A good question with multiple complexities -

Given the rules state that any age can obtain a licence and get a salmon tag, this essentially means they can keep salmon at any age, does it not?

Ethically and optics wise however, does taking a 1 year old out and filling their licence look great, perhaps not?

At the end of the day - it's a team game and as long as folks are abiding laws and rules, so be it.

Sometimes I go fishing with a friend that fishes once every 5 years. My boat, my gear, me driving, me netting our 4 fish, and him reeling in all 4 fish - we fill both tags as part of the team and legal effort.

If my 4 year old wants to come along and learn the ropes while "helping out" and perhaps holding the rod while I reel, you bet we are going to put a fish or two on her licence through the entire year. We are doing it legally and ethically in our eyes, and that's what matters. Much bigger issues locally in our fishing fleet than this one, in my opinion...

 

[Peahead]

Well Tugcaptain it looks like the haters have stayed to troll on the Van reports forum! lol 8 posts here so far. I will have my say here since I brought up 2 boys and have a 12 year old daughter. I have experience with this topic another words

Great posts above, lots of very good points. I couldn't agree more with all the posts above . So many good points that I can honestly say its refreshing. The few complainers and whiners on that other thread IMO are using the "bring a baby" idea as a ridiculous and far stretching example in attempts to make the point that you cannot retain a Chinook and put it on someone else's licence. That's not technically legal but the fact that a 5 year old kid may not be capable of completing the catching by himself is a different issue.
The comments of babies in a car seats retaining their own limits is funny but hopefully those posts were just a demonstration of a sense of humor. The complainers on the other thread may be those that have never fished with kids so may have no experience of what it is like to fish with them and what the kids can and can't do at a given age. Basically I say "who gives a sh*t if a 5 year old can only hold the rod up for a minute or make only 2 or 3 turns of the reel - their having a blast and its their fish! As a parent we want our kids to enjoy fishing so we want them to be involved as much as they physically can but not to the point of forcing anything beyond their skills or strength - that would put them off pretty fast. To tell the kid he has to release his fish because he failed to get it in all by himself ? - yeah right, what a great idea that is ;-) lol. Quite frankly , other than the funny baby in a car seat comment, I think its rather disturbing to me that there might be people that actually think this is even worthy of a complaint/topic.
I know adults that can't pull in fish all by themselves so would that mean they are never allowed to take home a fish even though they have a stamp?
What no-luck mentions is a good point and happens all the time. The complainers can whine about that too if they wish ..... The complainers would have a hay day whining about the sport fishing TV shows too. The guest on the show that pulls in a limit for themselves plus one for the guide and the camera man as well.

 

[Salmon Seeker]

I had a further chat with FM about it over pm last night. he maintained it was illegal and told me its in the fisheries act under the definition of "angler." So last night I actually read through the fisheries act and the BC sportfishing act and there was no definition of angler or any mention of being able to reel in a fish in order to retain it. Im pretty sure at this point that it is not illegal to reel in a fish for your kid and mark it on their licence.

 

[Matthias]

It could be abused if you were loading your boat with toddlers in order to harvest more fish

The thought of this made me burst out laughing at work

 

[Fish Camp]

give them a pound of salt .see what they wish to do with it.

 

[papalorge]

To be fair (and I agree with the above posts about bringing your kids fishing) I have seen many times on rivers where mostly "NEW" Canadians bring out young children as well as the very elderly and 1 or 2 of the men in the group proceed to catch garbage bags of salmon for everyone with or without a license. The topic hasn't even gotten to crabbing yet, does the child need to pull the trap by them selves?

 

[the fog ducker]

if you have little guys that are willing to endure bein out on the water as long as
the big boys !!! we should be pretty ecstatic , if there havin fun netting , reelin ,even if its just a couple cranks on the reel ,
driving , putting anchovies on backwards , whatever..
there my crew , and are entitled to keep there fish if desired , i always ask them , up to them ,
funny , alot of times , they just say lets put him back , and im ok with that

i think i need to sell all my westcoast gear and start fishin with all these experts on Van Report thread ,
get all the kids in the neighborhood on-board " tub out "sink the boat every outting l0l

take what ya need is what ive adapted in my later years
, no need to turn it into chest pounder at the dock every outing ,

great posts above

m2b

fd

 

[gungadin]

A few years ago my son and I took out my brother from Europe (60yrs) out fishing. His first time so we bought him a three day licence. Went out every day and he caught every fish, (lost a lot too) about 16 as i recall including lings and rockfish. he reeled every one in and had a blast. We put the ones over his limit on our licences. Took my grandaughter out last year (8yrs) she was not strong enough to play the fish for very long, but was very adept at netting them, but unable to lift them into the boat. She filled out her own licence and was quite insistent that she caught them all, because she was the netter. They all took plenty of canned fish home with them. IMO this is not illegal and within the spirit of the regulation.

 

[adanac]

sooooooo many ******* whiners these days. Im fairly sure a guy bringing his 3 - 5 year old out on the water for a day of fishing and killing his two chinook is really not the issue with the depleting stocks. Fishing is supposed to be fun, some people have to much time on their hands on these forums.

 

[OnTick]

My kid comes out with me quite often, he is 6. He is awesome at backing me onto my trailer, he loves steering the boat and the look on his face when a trap starts to show itself coming up from the murky depths and seeing what's inside. Can't wrangle a fish to the boat just yet though.
The baby in a car seat may happen, but not enough to use it to justify that opinion.
I may have had a bit more sting in my response to the naysayers in the other thread than was necessary but I'm just getting so tired of people constantly riding the moral high horse and touting ill thought out views. I might be just getting a little older and crankier.

 

[aheny]

I'm here fishing today because my dad brought me out as a kid. He taught me my love for nature, and I am doing my best to pass it on to my kids and those of my friends.
As for the topic at hand, I have a pretty extreme opinion where I don't consider anyone a sportsman who is opposed to children helping and keeping a catch. I think the children have more right to be out their than the complainers.
It's always the same people complaining about absolutely everything, and I couldn't imagine being in the same boat as them. I imagine a complete lack of smiles and fun.
The future generation is what the sport is all about, in fact I became a part time guide just to bring out new people and expose them to this amazing opportunity we have here. I an careful to teach everybody a respect for safety, and absolute compliance with every regulation.
I say kudos to anyone who brings a kid fishing, and they are all welcome to come out with me.

 

[OnTick]

I'll cut them some slack. I honestly think it's a cultural thing nowadays where so many people feel the need to be a judge in the Moral High Court. No matter the issue.

Usually they pipe up before actually having a think about what they are saying.

 

[aheny]

I'll cut them some slack. I honestly think it's a cultural thing nowadays where so many people feel the need to be a judge in the Moral High Court. No matter the issue.

Usually they pipe up before actually having a think about what they are saying.

You got that right, we have adult and teenage children who we talk to at length about being social justice Warriors.
In our house they're considered the lowest type of person and they are typically are most judgemental and racist, finding fault in every random situation when usually nothing was done wrong.

 

[advTHXance]

If this is about something FM said in another thread, take it with a grain of salt. That guys got no shortage of opinions, yet I dont think hes posted a single first-hand report this year and Ive followed the Vancouver Reports thread fairly closely. Its always second-hand info parroted from a guides social media, or a story from 20 years ago bragging about how he used to slay them. I have nothing against the guy personally, just observing what I see on here... All Im saying is consider the source.

As far as taking a kid fishing goes, I say good on ya. Start em young, teach them to respect the resource, and if they develop a passion for it later in life you can take satisfaction in knowing you had a helping hand.

If you ink 30 fish on your licence in a year, thats more than enough to feed your whole family. Having a toddler out there just to take a few extra fish is nothing but blatant greed, and as with anything in life, there are always some who will abuse the privilege. In my boat when I fish with friends, I let them play most of the fish, and usually send them home with the fish as well. Every fish gets written on a licence and sometimes that happens to be my licence. At the end of the day, youll know which side of the line you stand on. Its as simple as that!