FREE Take a Kid Ice Fishing Days in MN, Jan 19-21

Jan 19-21, 2019 MN residents 16 and older fish free with children younger than 16.

FREE MN Fishing Weekend June 8-10

June 8-10  MN residents 16 and older fish free with children younger than 16.

Moms Fish FREE in MN May 12-13

May 12-13  MN residents moms fish free.

FREE Take a Kid Ice Fishing Weekend Coming Up

Mark your calendars!!! You have a bit of notice on this one! January 13-15, 2018 is going to be Take a Kid Ice Fishing Weekend, where any MN resident 16 and older can fish for free (no license required) if they are fishing with someone 15 and under.

If you have been meaning to do some ice fishing, bring a kid with you and teach them a little bit about our MN history of sitting on buckets, freezing, trying to catch a fish through a hole you have drilled in the ice. I am positive they will never forget these memories!

Kids Under 16 Fish FREE in MInnesota

Did you know that kids under 16 can fish for FREE in Minnesota? They do have to follow the rules and regulations for fishing, but they do not need a fishing license. If you kid(s) are 16-17 years old, a yearly fishing license has a nominal fee of $5 (THAT'S IT!) 

So, this coming Father's Day weekend - take your kids fishing.  You are bound to create some lasting memories with your kids.

If you remember, I mentioned last week that you can fish for free in MN State Parks and some parks have free fishing kits to use. You just have to catch the fish!

Adults Fish FREE in Minnesota June 9-11

This coming weekend is Family Fun Take a Kid Fishing Weekend and  residents of Minnesota 16 and older can fish for free for 3 days, June 9-11 if they are fishing with a kid 15 and younger, who do not need a fishing licence. So, take the whole family out fishing for free sometime this weekend. You have 3 days to choose from, or go fishing all 3 days!

FREE Fishing in MN State Parks for the Fishing Opener

Did you know that you are allowed to fish for free in most of the Minnesota State Parks at any time, not just our fishing opener weekend. Here is the information taken directly from the MN Dept of Natural Resources:

A Minnesota resident may fish in a state park without a fishing license when:

1. the body of water does not require a trout stamp
2. fishing from shore or wading in water within the state park
3. fishing through the ice, from a boat or a float on a designated lake that is completely encompassed within a Minnesota state park

Plus, what is even more awesome is that many of the state parks have fishing kits that you can also check out for free. 

So, if you have always wanted to get out for fishing opener but don't have a license or the supplies, then just find a state park that you can fish in and has a kit and you are all set to go.

FREE Fishing for MOMS in Minnesota This Weekend

No fishing license for the opener, plus it's Mother's Day! Well, no problem for moms who are MN residents. Those moms can fish for FREE over Mother's Day Weekend (May 13-14), which is always fishing opener weekend! All other fishing laws are in effect, so be sure you know the rules and regulations.

Also - kids under 16 can always fish for free in MN. So kids, take your moms fishing for Mother's Day. Maybe catch some dinner and certainly make some memories.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Deep Sea Fishing in Florida

Oh don't let these happy smiling pictures of me for you. These were taken on the boat before we even started moving. My husband was gracious enough not to take any pictures of me during the majority of our for our deep sea fishing trip. Within minutes of leaving the harbor the sun went away and the rain started. And the rain pretty much continued the entire for hours we were out there.

Following the instructions of our tour operators I had taken anti nausea medication the night before and the morning of, but apparently that was not good enough. As soon as we stopped the boat and they started getting everything ready to do kite fishing I started puking. I had only had an orange and coffee so there wasn't too much to come up.

So as you can imagine it wasn't exactly a fun trip for me when I ended up having dry heaving episodes three different times. When the third episode happened the two operators decided it was finally time to go enjoy to do fishing. They had not caught anything yet.

I then sat on a bean bag chair and covered myself with my jacket and a rain jacket so that they could keep fishing and I would hopefully start to feel better on this very expensive fishing trip. After three hours I finally Rose from the bean bag and felt somewhat better but they had not caught anything nor had they really even seen anything at all.

It literally was the last 10 minutes of the trip that my husband happened to spot this fish in the water and pointed it out to one of the fishermen and they got set up with the right bait to catch this tripletail fish.

This was one of just a few fish that are in Shore that are edible. The restaurant in the marina will cook up your fish for you and serve it with a bunch of size for a nominal charge. The fisherman full 8-hour fish and we brought it to the restaurant and they kept it in their cooler for us until we came to eat later on in the evening when I felt better and was no longer soaked to the bone.

The fish tasted very good but I don't think I will be doing any deep sea fishing anytime soon. We had thought about doing some fishing with the kids when we take them on a trip this winter but I think we will do inshore fishing as suggested by the fishermen there.

Wordless Wednesday: Kids Fishing Tournament on French Lake

We took the kids the kids to a FREE Ice Fishing Tournament on French Lake. It was sponsored by the Elks Club. As you will notice, we have no pictures of fish, because is how many we caught. All kids did get a free fishing prize, regardless if you caught any or not.

Wordless Wednesday: Cabela's Family Fishing Day

Every year (well, at least for the past 4 years that we have been going to it), the Cabela's closest to us offers a Family Fishing Day that includes fishing in their ponds to catch fish and if you get a tagged one you get a big prize (we've never gotten a tagged fish) and there are generally a couple other activities. This year the only other activity was BB Gun practice. All kids also go their own Cabela's Fishing Pole for free as well.

If you are local to me, you should try to remember to look for this next spring. They typically do it during the weekend before fishing opener. You will be all set with your family (after you go buy licenses for adults) to go fishing right when the season starts! Cabela's offers a variety of free classes throughout the year for adults as well as kids events, just check out the events on their website for the one closest to you.

Take A Kid Ice Fishing (Free for Adults) in MN

February 18-19 is Take a Kids Ice Fishing Weekend in MN. They offer a day like this in June for regular fishing as well. On this day, an adult fishing with a minor does not need a fishing license to go fishing (normally $17 for a fishing license for an individual, $25 for a couple). There are even a couple of state parks (Sakatah and Bear Head Lake State Parks) that have fishing clinics on these days that also allows kids to make their own jiggler pole to use and take home. You will need to pay for a vehicle permit ($5/daily or $25/yearly). Contact the specific park linked above to obtain more information or to register.