Take A Kid Fishing Day// Navarre, FL

Each year in early October, Navarre hosts Take A Kid Fishing Day as part of the Fish Navarre Weekend. We were so excited to go this year and learn everything we needed to know about fishing in Navarre!

First things first, if this is your first time you need to register online before the event. Those registered receive a free fishing pole and t-shirt. If you are a returning guest you can just show up with your pole and head right to the Navarre Pier. (The fine print says the first 300 Santa Rosa Residents receive free poles.) The Navarre Pier is free all weekend to visitors and anglers.

We registered with a whole group of friends, to maximize the fun. We all got slots in the 9-10am start wave. We arrived promptly at 9am and picked up our t-shirts, tackle boxes and poles. Then we headed up the pier ramp to get started.

Our first stop was to pick up fresh bait – shrimp! The guys showed us how to portion off the shrimp and how to put it on the hook. Turns out everyone has their own little trick on what they think works best.

Then we had to find a good spot on the pier, which basically is just finding an open spot! There are places with a lower railing so we finally found one of those spots.

Next thing we knew everyone had their lines in the water.

The Big Little got his first bite! That is when the excitement of the whole group set in. The kids were getting a ton of nibbles and nearly everyone got a chance to reel in a catch.

Everything we were catching was super small, so we threw it all back. The kids really didn’t care. They just enjoyed the fun of getting nibbles on their lines.

None of the adults really knew what we were doing so it was super fun to learn to fish with the kids.

At some point the adults were doing most of the fishing! To fish in Florida adults do need to hold a fishing license which can be applied for online. Kids fish for free with a licensed adult.

I never thought fishing could be so fun. The kids were just thrilled every time they caught something.

We loved giving all the kids a chance to fish a bit. There were plenty of smiles to go around.

We also got some great views of sea turtles. When fishing and you see a turtle you need to make sure to pull your line up so the turtle doesn’t mistakenly get on your line. The Navarre Pier is such a great place to spot other sea life it is worth a visit even if you’re not into fishing. (You can read my post about the Navarre Pier here.)

A complimentary activity is the Jr Ranger “Let’s Go Fishing” badge. The packet can be downloaded, completed and mailed in to receive the Angler badge.

I’m sure there are similar events that take place all over. Our experience was excellent. I’m thrilled that the kids had the opportunity to try their hands at fishing with plenty of experienced anglers around! So get out there and try something new!