Who caught the fish?

[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!