Who caught the fish?

[catchinon]

I've been thinking about this question for a long time. It's important to establish who actually "took" the fish to count toward legal limits and also for purposes of a contest. There are a number of steps to "catching" a fish. If you put lines out behind a boat and don't designate who each one "belongs" to is it kosher to just take turns reeling them in? When you "help" a little kid, whose fish is it? I know some people abuse this by making sure that they catch a limit for everyone in the family or group but it's hard to believe that a very young child actually caught a fish. I hope I've laid out what I'm talking about clearly enough that some of you can speak to this. To be more specific: I have signed up my 4 year old great-granddaughter for the catfish contest. I'm not sure how much I will have to help her land fish that big. What do you think?

[meancuznalfy]

Thats a great question. I don't see a problem with sharing rods put out of thw back of the boat, lets everyone get in on the enjoyment of catching a fish, no matter their age. I know states vary on how children may keep fish, here in Idaho kids up to 14 may catch and keep there own limit of fish, in Montana kids up to 13 may catch fish without a license, but those count towards the adult that they're with limit, however they can own a license there and catch and keep their own limit. Now to think that a small child can catch a limit of walleye, that may be a bit far fetched, but a limit of small trout out of a mountain lake or kids pond is a bit more reasonable. Thats great signing your great granddaughter up for the cat contest, I'm sure she'll need a bit of help catching those big fish, but as long as she does most of the work landing them they are her fish.

[Jig-fisher]

This is how I see it.  When my wife and I go out on the boat trolling, I usually set up all the poles and set them out.  Her two poles are on her side, mine on the other.  Even though I do all the prep, what is hooked on her side is her fish and vice versa.  I didn't count the walleye she caught towards my grand slam contest last week because it was her pole.  I could have justified it, doing all the prep work, but I didn't. When I take the whole family out, we take turns reeling them in. Little kids sometimes need help reeling them in, no problem saying the kid caught it, even with some help.

[Kent]

When you "help" a little kid, whose fish is it?

ALWAYS the little kid's fish if they helped, at all, to land the fish!

[Cowboypirate]

Now if you post a thread with her catching a 36" cat, you might raise an eyebrow or two, but other than that - what they said

[MWScott72]

When you "help" a little kid, whose fish is it?

ALWAYS the little kid's fish if they helped, at all, to land the fish!

AGREE 100%!!

[MACMAN]

When I took my boys to the East Canyon Youth Tournament a couple weeks ago, we had this dilemma. I left it up to the boys. As long as they together figured out how to get the rods out (including downriggers), I gave them the choice to alternate landing or pick the two rods on their side of the boat. They picked to alternate. After a 3 out of 5 coin flip, 3 games of rock paper scissors and a short straw contest, Cameron won first fish. The first fish ended up being the biggest of the tournament, ha ha. Had no idea it would work out that way. Cam actually caught 3 fish that would have placed Cole, but that’s just how it worked out. I made them stick to owning the fish that was on their turn. I’m just glad we had twenty minutes to kill before the tournament started to figure out who went first. Hopefully we didn’t break any laws. I never thought about the legally of it. A CO would have to be having a really bad day to ticket you for that. Alternating is how they do it on the offshore tuna boats when they troll.

[Tarponjim]

When you "help" a little kid, whose fish is it?

ALWAYS the little kid's fish if they helped, at all, to land the fish!

This.  Always.

[obifishkenobi]

When you "help" a little kid, whose fish is it?

ALWAYS the little kid's fish if they helped, at all, to land the fish!

This.  Always.

I take lots of people out in my boat and in general we all just take turns reeling in fish, as far as I’m concerned the fish belongs to the person holding the rod when the fish comes on the boat.

[Tin-Can]

This is how I see it.  When my wife and I go out on the boat trolling, I usually set up all the poles and set them out.  Her two poles are on her side, mine on the other.  Even though I do all the prep, what is hooked on her side is her fish and vice versa.  I didn't count the walleye she caught towards my grand slam contest last week because it was her pole.  I could have justified it, doing all the prep work, but I didn't. When I take the whole family out, we take turns reeling them in. Little kids sometimes need help reeling them in, no problem saying the kid caught it, even with some help.

   DITTO       

[WET1]

I've been thinking about this question for a long time. It's important to establish who actually "took" the fish to count toward legal limits and also for purposes of a contest. There are a number of steps to "catching" a fish. If you put lines out behind a boat and don't designate who each one "belongs" to is it kosher to just take turns reeling them in? When you "help" a little kid, whose fish is it? I know some people abuse this by making sure that they catch a limit for everyone in the family or group but it's hard to believe that a very young child actually caught a fish. I hope I've laid out what I'm talking about clearly enough that some of you can speak to this. To be more specific: I have signed up my 4 year old great-granddaughter for the catfish contest. I'm not sure how much I will have to help her land fish that big. What do you think?

  Your example with your grandaughter is the most interesting. I know when my sister and I were growing up that my dad always made us land our fish ourselves, other than the netting part. He said it was up to us to either catch  it or lose it but he wasn't going to do it for us. I see allot of adults grabbing the rod and landing the fish for a little kid and calling it "helping" them. 
  These days, I have a 7 year old granddaughter and since she was 2 I've never done anything more than maybe hang onto the very end of the rod just so she wouldn't lose it. Last year at Powell she caught and landed a 6 lb Largemouth. There were a couple moments where it was touch and go whether she was going to lose that rod out of her hands and she was crying saying that while the fight was on/ I just kept coaching her to keep that grip in front of the reel so it wouldn't slide out of her hands. Now when she looks at that picture she's so proud to tell everyone she caught it all by herself!
   Kokanee fishing is also a great way to start out a very young kid. With the soft rods and rod holders they can land them all by themselves even when they're aren't yet strong enough to hold the rod themselves. Good luck helping her land a big cat!

[Springbuck1]

My daughter with cerebral palsy can hold a pole in one hand, and se the hook. She can't bait, cast, crank her reel handle, or even really see her line or bobber.

Anything that bites and we bring in while she holds the pole, SHE caught.

[WET1]

My daughter with cerebral palsy can hold a pole in one hand, and se the hook.  She can't bait, cast, crank her reel handle, or even really see her line or bobber.

Anything that bites and we bring in while she holds the pole, SHE caught.

Good on you for getting her out there!

[Springbuck1]

My daughter with cerebral palsy can hold a pole in one hand, and se the hook.  She can't bait, cast, crank her reel handle, or even really see her line or bobber.

Anything that bites and we bring in while she holds the pole, SHE caught.

Good on you for getting her out there!

  She's a hoot, but the logistics can be tough now that she's growing up.  She has caught rainbow trout, green sunfish, bluegills, hybrid greengills, wipers, LMB, SMB, bullheads, carp, and chubs.  Got a life list on her wall. 

  I used to tow her around in a kayak at Mantua while I waded by jamming her old car seat into the homemade kayak, but she outgrew the car seat and life vests, and getting her, her wheelchair, the car-seat, kayak, etc shuttled back and forth from the parking lot anywhere........well, she weighs 115 lbs now and all that, and nobody else in the family likes fishing.

[Cowboypirate]

My daughter with cerebral palsy can hold a pole in one hand, and se the hook.  She can't bait, cast, crank her reel handle, or even really see her line or bobber.

Anything that bites and we bring in while she holds the pole, SHE caught.

Good on you for getting her out there!

  She's a hoot, but the logistics can be tough now that she's growing up.  She has caught rainbow trout, green sunfish, bluegills, hybrid greengills, wipers, LMB, SMB, bullheads, carp, and chubs.  Got a life list on her wall. 

  I used to tow her around in a kayak at Mantua while I waded by jamming her old car seat into the homemade kayak, but she outgrew the car seat and life vests, and getting her, her wheelchair, the car-seat, kayak, etc shuttled back and forth from the parking lot anywhere........well, she weighs 115 lbs now and all that, and nobody else in the family likes fishing.

Boy does that sound sound familiar. We should catch up and share war stories. My current neck problem is a result of improper lifting methods over the years with my son. Once they break 100 lbs it really changes the game helping them transfer and such. But we have had some great adventures and, like your daughter, he has quite a list of finned critters to his name.

[meancuznalfy]

My daughter with cerebral palsy can hold a pole in one hand, and se the hook.  She can't bait, cast, crank her reel handle, or even really see her line or bobber.

Anything that bites and we bring in while she holds the pole, SHE caught.

Good on you for getting her out there!

  She's a hoot, but the logistics can be tough now that she's growing up.  She has caught rainbow trout, green sunfish, bluegills, hybrid greengills, wipers, LMB, SMB, bullheads, carp, and chubs.  Got a life list on her wall. 

  I used to tow her around in a kayak at Mantua while I waded by jamming her old car seat into the homemade kayak, but she outgrew the car seat and life vests, and getting her, her wheelchair, the car-seat, kayak, etc shuttled back and forth from the parking lot anywhere........well, she weighs 115 lbs now and all that, and nobody else in the family likes fishing.

Dam, nice list of fish shes caught.

[doggonefishin]

Unless the kids are in some sort of contest with a set of defined rules, I think it is best to be pretty permissive in saying that the youngster is the one that caught the fish. It tends to skyrocket the enthusiasm of the youngster to have an elevated "count".

A recent case in point. Towards the end of the ice season, my son and I went up to the Berry to enjoy some late season ice fishing. We shared 2 rods, were both watching one fishfinder and I was mostly handing the rods to him (or having him hook them himself) to reel in everything we hooked up. We lost a few fish on the handoff and were goofing off a bit, but having a good time. Anyway, I set the hook on one and handed him the rod. It soon became apparent that this was not a cookie cutter slotter. He fought him for about 10 minutes and was making some progress, but needed a little help as it was getting closer to the hole. I took over for a few, and worked the hefty fish up into the hole. I then handed the rod back and had him gently pull up while I grabbed the fish and pulled him out. With a team effort we caught it!

IMO, he caught the fish fully in my eyes and my help didn't change that, and he has a story to remember for the rest of his life of how he went up to the Berry and caught a fish as big as what "pop" has ever caught, who fishes there all the time.

[Springbuck1]

My daughter with cerebral palsy can hold a pole in one hand, and se the hook.  She can't bait, cast, crank her reel handle, or even really see her line or bobber.

Anything that bites and we bring in while she holds the pole, SHE caught.

Good on you for getting her out there!

  She's a hoot, but the logistics can be tough now that she's growing up.  She has caught rainbow trout, green sunfish, bluegills, hybrid greengills, wipers, LMB, SMB, bullheads, carp, and chubs.  Got a life list on her wall. 

  I used to tow her around in a kayak at Mantua while I waded by jamming her old car seat into the homemade kayak, but she outgrew the car seat and life vests, and getting her, her wheelchair, the car-seat, kayak, etc shuttled back and forth from the parking lot anywhere........well, she weighs 115 lbs now and all that, and nobody else in the family likes fishing.

Boy does that sound sound familiar. We should catch up and share war stories. My current neck problem is a result of improper lifting methods over the years with my son. Once they break 100 lbs it really changes the game helping them transfer and such. But we have had some great adventures and, like your daughter, he has quite a list of finned critters to his name.

  Improper lifting or not, they get bigger, and dads get older.   My wife and I have both had one neck surgery each, right at the C6/7 disk, which is the trouble spot. 

I'd be honored to spend any time with you at all, CP.   I've watched your videos on youtube, and it seems like we have a parallel family and similar interests.

[catchinon]

Unless the kids are in some sort of contest with a set of defined rules, I think it is best to be pretty permissive in saying that the youngster is the one that caught the fish.  It tends to skyrocket the enthusiasm of the youngster to have an elevated "count".

A recent case in point.  Towards the end of the ice season, my son and I went up to the Berry to enjoy some late season ice fishing.  We shared 2 rods, were both watching one fishfinder and I was mostly handing the rods to him (or having him hook them himself) to reel in everything we hooked up.  We lost a few fish on the handoff and were goofing off a bit, but having a good time.  Anyway, I set the hook on one and handed him the rod.  It soon became apparent that this was not a cookie cutter slotter.  He fought him for about 10 minutes and was making some progress, but needed a little help as it was getting closer to the hole.  I took over for a few, and worked the hefty fish up into the hole. I then handed the rod back and had him gently pull up while I grabbed the fish and pulled him out.  With a team effort we caught it! 

IMO, he caught the fish fully in my eyes and my help didn't change that, and he has a story to remember for the rest of his life of how he went up to the Berry and caught a fish as big as what "pop" has ever caught, who fishes there all the time.

I agree that it is usually best to let the kid do as much as possible and get all the credit and praise they can. In this specific case I signed my 4 yo up for the catfish contest. I wanted her to catch some white bass and other panfish this winter but just never worked out. I'm not sure how she would do reeling in cats that can often weigh between 5 and 10 pounds. I guess I'll talk to the contest administrator and work it out with him. Maybe there is a good reason why kids of certain young ages are restricted from some contests.

[N.E.T.O.]

We fished at Lake Powell this spring in April, 3 trips total. It was a blast and we literally caught hundreds of fish (multiple boats/fishermen/days/etc.).

One particular morning I had my son-in-law and 2 of my grandkids on the boat with us. I was having one of those magical days where I had the hot rod. I would put an anchovy on the jig of either my pole, or one of my grandkids poles, cast it out, literally set the hook and hand it off then grab the next available pole and continue doing that for a few hours. We got off the lake at noon, filleted them all then headed to the Burger King in Page for lunch.

We decided to add up our catch so each person in the truck voiced how many fish they had caught. My grandkids are exactly like me when it comes to counting fish (they are extremely ocd about keeping an exact count) and I knew in advance how many fish I had personally hooked and handed off to them. Their turns came around and they announced how many fish they had each caught and that they had counted them on their count due to the fact that reeling them in is the hardest part... Doing the quick math in my head when it was my turn...I announced that I had caught one single fish the whole day! It was awesome!

What's already been said. Pretty much counts as the kid's fish if they either cast the pole out, hooked the fish, reeled it in, or touched the pole or fish in any way, shape or form!