taking my girlfriends 8yr old niece fishing for her 1st time

[drysuperfly52]

I am taking my girlfriend 8 year old niece out fishing for trout for her first fishing trip. we are headed to Armstrong lake by Arlington Friday and I think we are just going to drop powerbait and wait in the boat or should I be trolling with a first timer? I am debating buying her a pole as well. should I get a closed or open real? it’s been so long I can’t really remember what is better for kids. any other pointers I should look out for? we are going mid afternoon for just a couple hours so hopefully she won't get burned out to quickly if the fishing is slow.

[TroutSnipr]

I'd probably just go the powerbait route with a first timer, or bobber + worm(is she squeamish)/marshmallows. The bobber route would probably make detecting the strike easier for her. If she is pretty dextrous I would go with a regular spinning reel over a closed faced 'Zebco' style especially if you are buying her a setup that will be used more than once.

[drysuperfly52]

thanks she is definatly not squimish she has been collecting worms all week. we will have about 50 by friday i think.

[Mordalphus]

Bobber and worms, for sure! You'll never know what you'll get with bobber and worm, with Powerbait you'll probably just get trout. I think it's way more fun when you don't know what's next! Use a size 8-10 hook with half a worm 20 inches under a bobber, oh boy!

[DavidA]

I've been taking neighborhood boys (10-15 years old) for the past month, and I wouldn't rule out trolling as well, especially if the bites are slow. This way it won't be viewed as continuing to do the same with the same result. You can explain that if this isn't working, we'll try something else, how the gear is different, and how they feed differently. Also you can let her choose between colors or slight differences in gear, if you have some variety. Anything to avoid her getting bored. Good luck. Oh! Maybe bring along a surprise snack or two, again, something to shake it up if the going is slow!

[Big D]

Another thing that helps to keep their attention is spend a few minutes teaching her how to drive the boat. (Never taking your hands off of the controls) and make sure she has a well fitting PFD.

[drysuperfly52]

yeah i made sure she had a good life jacket before i even offered her a seat in the boat.