We recently moved to Central Texas, within 5 minutes of Lake Travis. Long story short, since the Corona virus lock downs started I was looking for things me and my 3 year old son could do outside and bought some fishing poles on a whim. Turns out he really enjoys fishing.

When we started I bought a really small tackle box that was pre-loaded with some hooks, bobbers and weights but it's time to restock.

We will mainly be fishing from the banks of Lake Travis and the surrounding central Texas Rivers (basically anywhere our Texas State Parks Pass will get us within 2 hours of Leander). I also figure we'll go out 1-2x a month.
Can you guys help me build a basic shopping list of necessary tools for a decent tackle box? Let me know if I missed any information pertinent to the discussion. Thanks.

At 3 years old he probably wouldn't have the skills do any lure retrieval but maybe I am wrong. Best bet is to stick with bait under a cork whether it be worms/gizzards/whatever. Now if he is able to keep himself occupied and you can fish independently you can look into basics for yourself and teach him in a few years. Rooster tails, rattle traps, small spinners and Texas rigged worms will work in almost any waterway

Suggestion: put the $$ towards a good spin cast combo for your son. My kids all have Zebco dock pistol combo (42" rod and zebco 33 reel) or a smaller dock demon combo (30" rod and similar reel). Way better than the cheap snoopy or character rods you can get.

Your kids will enjoy simply catching fish (sunfish, perch) so I would focus on small hooks and corks to catch some fish off the bank (or in smaller ponds or off docks) if you can. Frozen corn or worms work great.

Catch a few and he'll be hooked for life. Enjoy!

We're at the point where we can drop in a few lines and sit/chill for a few minutes.

First, great job dad.

Second, are you asking for suggestions for your son, yourself, or both?

Thanks for the suggestions. I did avoid the cartoon character rod/reels and bought a Shakespeare Pitching Stick - but I have no clue if that's actually any better.

04.arch.ag said:

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At 3 years old he probably wouldn't have the skills do any lure retrieval but maybe I am wrong. Best bet is to stick with bait under a cork whether it be worms/gizzards/whatever. Now if he is able to keep himself occupied and you can fish independently you can look into basics for yourself and teach him in a few years. Rooster tails, rattle traps, small spinners and Texas rigged worms will work in almost any waterway

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I agree with this 100%. Go to Brushy Creek and fish under a bridge with worms and a bobber. You will catch basically unlimited bluegill and with a 3-year-old you have probably a good 45 minutes of fishing so you may as well spend some of that time with pull on the line. There is a gas station at the Parmer turnoff where you can buy worms (At least there used to be when I had a 3YO). Drive to champions park and fish under the footbridge. The bonus is there are trails and playgrounds if your 3YO needs a break. Have fun and take pictures you will thank yourself later. I have some fond memories with my little guy out there.

You should be able to buy worms at this 7-Eleven. If not there is an Academy that will have them nearby.
https://goo.gl/maps/soow7PDCQZYuwCsn7

After you get your worms drive down Brushy Creek Rd.and turn off at champions park and walk to the footbridge. There are other spots that may be closer for instance there is a little pond at the bottom of River Place Blvd. You can obviously fish along the banks of Lake Travis but it won't be like shooting fish in a barrel like Brushy Creek in my experience.

The best advice I can give you is that your optimal fishing window for a 3YO is 30-45 min. If you try to go longer than that your child will likely be bored and may not want to do it again.

Both. I've actually enjoyed it to and could see myself going out without him on occasion.

To put it in perspective, I've been fishing maybe 5 times in my entire life so I'm starting from scratch and google searches have lead to information overload.

I figure a set of leather gloves, needle nose pliers and a basic first aide kit are no brainers but I don't know where to go after that.

Drop the leather gloves out of that list unless you want to look funny holding up your monsters that you'll catch. Buy a chartreuse and white spinner bait, a bandit 100 white crankbait, a rattle trap, some senkos and a buzz bait or pop r and then you're set to catch whatever you want.

Tips for an absolute beginner:

1) If fishing for perch, use small hooks. #6 or #8. (With hooks, the larger the number, the smaller).
2) If you are fishing for bass, make sure you know the size limits. TPW website is a good source.
3) Long sleeve UV shirt, gilligan hat, sunscreen, for both of you. Put spray sunscreen in your tackle box.
4) If you are going to be in the Blanco or Pedernales river, I strongly advise buying a small minnow trap (about the size of a mason jar). Minnows love oatmeal. Put the mouth of the trap down river. The minnows will swim up river and get stuck. Find some shallow water, find some minnows, put a rock in the trap, put some oatmeal in it, put it in water where it is just almost submerged, and you have great bass bait in 30 minutes.
5) Learn to tie a fisherman's knot well.


Other help:

https://www.krakenbass.com/essential-bass-fishing-tackle/

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/starter-kit-bass

Thanks man. I've actually been practicing my knot tying!

Learn to tie a Palomar knot. Its easy and quite strong.

For a kid you need nothing other than bobbers, split shot, size 6 hooks and some worms. Bonus points for the R2D2 bobbers.

When junior gets a little older and gets the hankering to "fish like a dad" buy some beetle spins, white with the red dot and yellow. They don't get hung easy and they flat catch fish.

You mentioned a state parks pass. I think you don't need a fishing license for fishing in a state park, but if fishing public waters outside of a state park, pick up a fishing license before you go.

Yup. Good call.

welcome to the obsession!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

For panfish hooks, get some of the eagle claw extra long shank cricket hooks. Size 8 or 10. Your catch will go up and the longer shank makes it 10X easier to get the hook out.



For corks, go with as small a size as will hold up your bait and splitshot. This makes it easier to see the bite from the smallest fish.

For weights, I like the splitshot without the ears. The tabs tend to get stuck on things like grass and sticks.

You are at the peak of bream fishing season. Enjoy it while you can. When the heat sets in, theyll move to deeper water.

Dang that's crazy. I have a 3 year old boy (will turn 4 this August). I just bought him a fishing pole yesterday and a tackle box already that included the basic little kid stuff. I also have probably been fishing a handful of times in my life and was on here to see what the outdoor board could offer.

Good stuff guys