The Old Stick and Jig Trick:  Yukon Ice Fishing with Kids

March 07, 2009 at 1:05 pm

When getting out ice fishing with kids, the most important thing is to keep them busy.  There are some kids that can sit by the hole fishing by other and then there are those that get bored after five minutes. My kids are both under eight and I can usually get about two hours out of them.  Bring some friends along, hot dogs, a fire, snowmobile and maybe four.  Much of this depends on the weather and temperature as well. 

My strategy is to usually get the holes cut, set up some rods (usually for the accompanying parents to fish with the kids), a couple tip-up and then let them start fishing.  Depending on how many kids and helpers, this takes about 45 minutes.  At this point the initial excitement wears off and if a fish is not caught immediately they get a little bored.  A couple of options at this point.  Start a fire with hot dogs and hot chocolate or the hunt for a jigging stick routine.  This past weekend I opted for number two and went on a jigging stick hunt.  After about 15 minutes in the woods each kid finds a stick.  We set up only enough line to reach the bottom of the lake and then throw a lure on it with some shrimp.  I usually pair them up and get them to count to five and jig.  Have a look at the video and give it a try with your little kids.  Let me know how it went.

The hope is that by this time one of the accompanying adults has caught a fish and then ensues the next few phases of fishing with kids…the fish bonking, cleaning, identifying the parts and back to fishing. 

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