Kids Fishing Events

There are many, many opportunities to get kids in Washington State into fishing! The Klineline Kids Fishging Event will be held on April 11 (special needs) and 12, where there will be around 2000 kids from SW Washington and NW Oregon introduced to Trout Fishing! There are also events at Black Lake in Ilwaco, Lake Sacajawea in Longview, Columbia Springs in Vancouver, and the Merwin Hatchery in Ariel, and these are only a handful of the 70 - 85 annual events in Washington alone!

Getting our next generation of anglers into the outdoors helps introduce them to nature and how we interact with and affect our environment. Without this introduction, where will our future stewards of our natural world come from?
 
Fishing is one of many ways to help introduce our young ones to nature and hopefully they will become stewards in the future.

I believe it should start at home. Take short bursts of time by spending time with them outdoors. Teach the identification of trees including identification by leaves. Turn over rocks to find bugs. Go on day hikes or to parks and discuss various subjects. Find a stream and let them find different bugs, fish and plants. See what perks them up and build on that.

That is what I did. It works. Both of my kids now have Biology degrees.

Main thing is to get them out of the bedroom and away from the internet.
 
There's usually a no license needed weekend ... April?? Lake Tye in Monroe stock a bunch ahead of the weekend and have kids derbies.. Beaver Lake and maybe Pine lake too..
 
I've been gently nudging my 11-year-old into fishing. He complains about the long drives, but once he's out, I can get him interested for at least a couple of hours. I mentioned this fly-fishing camp to him, and to my surprise, he didn't recoil in horror. I only wish they had this when I was a kid.

 
So far, I have identified the following near-term kids fishing events:
4/5/2025: 11th Annual Youth Fishing DerbyDuck Lake, North Bay Park, Ocean Shores
4/11/2025: Klineline Special KidsKlineline Pond, Salmon Creek County Park, Vancouver
4/12/2025: Klineline Kids Fishing EventKlineline Pond, Salmon Creek County Park, Vancouver
4/12/2025: Kids Fishing DayColumbia Park Pond, Kennewick
4/19/2025: Kids' Fishing DayCarrie Blake Park Pond, Sequim
4/26/2025: Yakima Greenway Kid's Fish-InSarg Hubbard Pond, Yakima
4/26/2025: Black Lake Fishing DerbyBlack Lake, Ilwaco
4/26/2025: Kids Fish-inLake Sacajawea, Longview
4/27/2025: Bill Yarlott Youth Fishing DerbyCascade Lake
4/27/2025: Kids Fishing EventSilver Lake, Maple Falls

 
Spokane: May 10! Clear Lake! Get hold of wdfw regional office or inland empire wildlife council for info, or check the wdfw website
 
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