# Paint Creek Gear Restrictions



## kzoofisher (Mar 6, 2011)

A 5 year old catching a 20" brown? Setting your sights a tad high I think. Does the kid have the dexterity to handle a spinning or baitcasting outfit either? My biggest problem when my kids were that young was finding a place that they could stand in the river, once I found that I taught them to just flick the line across the current and let soft hackles do the rest. Those little brookies hook themselves half the time and the kids love all the action. A boat was the best place to practice general casting with different gear. If you want him to catch bigger trout try floating the Au Sable below Mio, he can throw spinners and catch planter rainbows without putting the lure up on shore too often. There is a good chance he will at least move a bigger fish and you might tie into a real trophy, last trip with my 9 year old caught half a dozen 6"-14" browns and I popped a 23". Good luck.


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## fisheater (Nov 14, 2010)

My boy is now 8 and he is getting pretty good at rolling bait. I have taken quite a few kids trout fishing, and they seem to catch on. I think my boy started at about 5, but he is really interested now. I have given dozens of Dad's directions to my "secret" shore fishing holes.

If my opinion on the gear restriction is too strong for some, it is what it is. The present rules are just that, present rules. They do not represent a higher moral authority, but they are the law.

My boy hooked a very fat 20" cat for Father's Day and he had his hands full. He's been fishing for a few years now and it was fun, scary. At 5, I think it would have been just scary.


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## troutguy26 (Apr 28, 2011)

A kid catching a 20 in brown is not setting the bar high. Ive caught alot of browns bigger than that a kid would of had a good shot at landing. But i wasnt on gear water and i think kids should be able to fish that water no matter what they are using.


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## bassdisaster (Jun 21, 2007)

The Gear restrictions have nothing to do with kid's!
Kids dont hurt the population enough to make a difference!
Think about this, in Bass fishing tournaments long ago some of the organizers decided that *Live bait* should not be allowed, one has to figure that they believed that live bait would out produce artificial!
Ok Take 2 boats 2 anglers each, send them out in any Michigan lake and i can all but guarantee that the boat using artificial's will out fish the live bait boat hands down!
So with that logic then who is doing more damage to the bass population? certainly not the live bait users!
When any of our waters get restricted it diminishes us as a whole!
Discrimination is simply not tolerable in 2011!

BD


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