Whats a good age to take you kid ice fishing?

[Ice Scratcher]

I have an 8" auger and agree with the others, your child will step in the hole if it's larger than 6".

Mine stepped into a 6" and almost got stuck, and almost lost his boot, might have taken a (seemed longer) a minute to free him.. Only ended up with a wet leg and a short trip.. In that one case, I would rather he stepped in a 8" hole..

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[Fishrmn]

I've raised 3 kids and had several nieces and nephews out on the ice as early as 3 years of age.  I use an 8 inch hand auger for early ice, and a 10 inch gasser when there's enough ice to warrant the gas.  I've only had one kid step in a hole.  My youngest put one foot in a 10 inch hole.  He DIDN'T disappear under the ice.  My nephew takes his family on the ice, and his kids as soon as they can walk.  He uses a 10 inch auger exclusively.  He doesn't own a hand crank auger.  Every one of his kids have gotten their feet wet... ONCE.  No emergencies, no trips to the E.R., no under the ice rescues.  I think some people make too big of a deal of this.



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[frostymug]

I took my 2 boys out at 3 & 4.  This year will be our 3rd. What I have learned is to be patient. If it can go wrong it will. Bring pliers for those deep hook sets. They will also want to check on their bait every 2 - 5 minutes. If they decide that cleaning out the ice in the hole is more fun let them. A few scoops have been lost this way but its all about keeping them occupied. Your line might only get wet once or twice but to have them catching pan fish on their Spider-Man "ice" fishing poles with slip bobbers is great. The faces with tongues hanging out half way while reeling up the fish is priceless.

[captain54]

 A lot of good tips,I agree with all. The one thing I tried to do was take my son to lakes that produced quantity to quality. Nothing like reeling in drink gills,crappie,and perch all day. Snacks and beverage are a must. My son could run tip ups at 5 by himself.

[Michael Berish]

My dad brought me when I  was 3 and i never looked  back can't imagine my life without the hardwater !!!!!

[panfishman13]

lots of good advice on here. personally, i don't have kids, but i take a LOT of young and/or inexperienced anglers out, and the younger kids are always the ones most enthralled by the process of it all (drilling the holes, choosing the lures, baiting the hook, etc.).

someone also talked about bringing kites out on the ice, and i could not agree more. it's a huge open space, usually with lots of wind to spare. kites on the ice is something i've been doing for entertainment since for a long time.

[Teamroper3684]

I believe I was 5-6 when my dad first took me.  I don't remember a lot from when I was that young but I do remember that trip. We were gonna go to Williams fork in Colorado.  My uncle and a lot of my dads friends loved ice fishing and were really serious about it.  My uncle had the snowmobiles which is funny cause I actually bought them from him last year for me and my brothers. My dads buddy Danny loved fishing for big lakers, he took a rotisserie machine and rigged it up to put his 2 rods on then he'd drop the lines turn it on and that thing would sit there and jig his poles for him it was really cool.  Them guys were pretty hardcore and never took sharks but my dad knew if he didn't have one for me would be a short day so we spent 2 weeks before building a shack.  When we got there we fished shallow water towards the boat ramp my dad hoping we might get more action, everyone else hit the deep water.  Personally I don't remember catching anything but I do remember we moved out whack back about 30 feet to try a new spot.  Bout 45 minutes later were heard everyone whooping and hollering and so me and my dad ran over to see the commotion.  Somebody had a monster laker hooked it was really cool to watch them try to land him.  I remember Danny's holes were about 3 feet apart and someone finally said they seen the fish I was looking down the hole next to the one they had him hooked in and remember seeing a huge tail completely cover a 10" hole.  I may be exaggerating but I was young.  They all told me to come over and look down the other hole as the fish was coming out, trying to get his head turned up it that big laker had one last move and opened his mouth as wide as he could. My dad was getting ready to lip him and someone said they couldn't believe it cause the fishes tail was showing in one hole and his head was in the other plus he was turned cause his head was just starting to come up the hole.  He Jd to be 36" plus right then that white jogged shot outa that hole like a rocket and he was gone. 
I started getting cold and everyone was dropping lines back down hoping to hook up again and I told my dad I was headed to the shack.  I was about 30 feet from the shack and stepped right through one of the old holes.  One leg right up to my hip and I couldn't get outa it with how my other leg was stuck under my butt.  I was yelling for my dad and he just thought I slipped, he came walking over and when he realized I was in a hole he freaked out.  I remember him getting me to the shack and telling me to strip so we could get my wet pants off.
It was a great time although thought my leg was gonna freeze off we got me dried up and I kept fishing sitting in front of the heater in my underware. 
I don't blame my dad for it at all just if you bring ur kids keep an eye on them, some people fill in their holes with snow when they leave, this is one reason I always leave mine open and try to leave some slush built up around them.  I know how kids are when they get bored they wanna run and play. Luckily in CO 10" is the max sized hole it always scares me to see 2-3 holes drilled together especially if I know families bring kids on a lake, I bet my skinny but could go through 3 10" holes if I hit it right. I've only got a 30" waist. 
Anyways thought I'd share, I'll take my kids out when I have them as soon as they are ready I just know I 1. Better be able to keep them entertained 2. Plan short trips 3. Be able to keep them warm if I need to.. That usually turned into my biggest problem was staying warm

[Lobes]

The best age to take your kids ice fishing is after you've reached your 40's - 50's.
Anything sooner than that you may not have to necessary patience.
And bring LOTS of patience! The minute you run out of patience the aspect of fun vacates the building ...

                                                                 
Lobes

[jbird68]

My son turned 12 this summer. This is the first year he was actually interested in ice fishing. I guess for me it depends on how interested they are. If they are bored they tend to get cold faster.

[lpilon]

Interest is important, but have to keep them occupied and make it fun as well.  I used to bring football, Frisbees, and cook lots of hot dogs.  Gong to place where they will catch some fish, even small ones, is better than going to a place where your only goal is to catch big fish, but only have few hits.  I would limit it to a couple hours too, to keep it from seeing like a long day.

Get them interested and you have a fishing partner for life!