# Fishing with children > Fishing with children in Norway: under-16s fish free from 1 January to 20 August, which gear suits them, safety at the water and how to keep it fun. Source: https://finnfisk.no/en/barnefiske Language: en Alternate: https://finnfisk.no/barnefiske (nb-NO) --- Field guide Children under 16 fish free for inland fish with rod and hand line from 1 January to 20 August inclusive, except in watercourses with salmon, sea trout and sea char. Here are the rules, the gear that suits small hands, and the thing that decides everything: that they want to come back. Updated 6 October 2026 [Find a water](https://finnfisk.no/en/kart) [The gear guide](https://finnfisk.no/en/utstyr) ## Do children need a fishing licence? Where the rights holder sells a licence, children under 16 are entitled to it free from 1 January to 20 August inclusive, and where no licence is sold, they may [fish without permission](https://finnfisk.no/en/fiske-uten-fiskekort). The children’s right under section 18 of the salmon and inland fish act | Rule | What it means | | --- | --- | | Under 16 | Where the rights holder sells a licence, children under 16 have the right to it free of charge. Where no licence is sold, they may fish without permission. | | 1 Jan – 20 Aug | The free right applies in this period. After 20 August children need a licence too, wherever one is required. | | Rod and hand line | These two tackle types only, and only for inland fish: trout, grayling, char, perch, pike, whitefish and their relatives. | | Not salmon rivers | The right does not apply in watercourses, or parts of them, carrying salmon, sea trout or sea char, nor in artificial dams. | | Not crayfish | Crayfishing is excluded, and local regulations may narrow children’s fishing where it harms stock management. | | State fishing fee | The state fishing fee, which covers salmon, sea trout and sea char, is payable only from 18. Sea fishing is free for everyone. | The rest of the rules apply to children too: minimum and maximum sizes, daily quotas, closed seasons and which tackle is legal in the individual water. Check the water before you go, and do it together with the child: rules are easier to follow when you know why they exist. ## How do you keep children safe at the water? A life jacket from the car and back again, one adult per child at the water, and never children on the ice without an adult. ### Life jacket on Jacket on from the car and back again, not just in the boat. Children go in at the shore, off slippery rocks and from the jetty, and the only jacket that works is the one they are wearing. ### Clear the casting zone One adult per child at the water, and two arm lengths of space before anyone casts. Pinch the barb down and keep the pliers in your pocket, not in the pack. ### Dress them to sit still A child who is fishing barely moves and gets cold fast. Wool base layers, spare socks, rain gear, sun cream and more food than you think. Cold hands end the trip, not bad fishing. ### Ice and slippery rock Never children on the ice without an adult, ice picks and at least 10 cm of core ice, as NVE recommends. NVE also says children must wear a life jacket or other buoyancy on the ice. Wet rock below the waterline is slicker than it looks, so pick a spot with flat, dry ground to stand on. ## What fishing gear suits children? A 5-6 foot rod, a size 1000-2500 reel and 0.18-0.20 mm line suit most children. Fishing gear for children | Gear | Choose | Why | | --- | --- | --- | | Rod | 5-6 foot | A short rod is easier for short arms to control, and it snags the bushes behind you less. | | Reel | Size 1000-2500 | Light enough to hold for an hour. | | Line | 0.18-0.20 mm | Handles any inland fish a child will meet. | | Bait | Float and worm, where worm is allowed | The float makes the bite visible, and watching it go under is half the fun. | | Hook | Single hook with the barb pinched down | Less damage to the fish, and far less drama if the hook finds a finger. | | Lure | Size 1-2 spinner in silver | Once the cast lands, a small spinner keeps turning even on a slow, uneven retrieve. | Light, short and simple beats expensive and advanced: a child needs to get the cast out and see something happen. Buy cheap tackle that belongs to them. Then they dare to cast, and a snapped rod tip is a story, not a crisis. ## How do you get children to enjoy fishing? Keep the trip short, around 45 minutes, and end it while the child still wants more. The goal of the first trip is not fish, but the child asking when you are going again. ### Forty-five minutes, not four hours Plan a short trip and end it while they still want more. That is the trip they ask to repeat. The long one they remember as boring. ### Let them cast badly Do not take the rod out of their hands to demonstrate. Tangles and three-metre casts are the learning. Praise the cast, not the catch, so the win is one they made themselves. ### The trip is more than the fishing A fire, a swim, binoculars, hunting frogs and a hot dog. If the fishing is dead, the trip is still good. This is what makes them ask to go back. ### Let them call it When they say they want to go home, go home. Being held back for “just five more minutes” ten times over is the surest way to spoil fishing for a child. ### Take the photo, tell the story A photo with the fish, and let them hold it even if it takes a while. Tell the story to someone afterwards, with them there. That is how they become someone who fishes. ## Catch, release and respect If the fish goes back, keep it in the water and unhook it with pliers, and if it is to be eaten, kill it at once with a firm blow. ### Wet hands, quick return If the fish goes back: wet your hands, keep it in the water, unhook it with pliers and let it go at once. Show them how, and they will do it right for life. ### Kill it quickly If it is to be eaten, kill it straight away with a firm blow. Explain why: we take only what we eat, and we do it fast. Children handle honesty well. ### Gut it and cook it together Fish from the water to the pan the same day is the best cooking a child can take part in, and it closes the loop on the whole trip. ### Carry it all home Line and hooks kill birds. Pick up every piece, including the ones that are not yours, and never move fish or water between waters: it spreads disease and alien species. ## Common questions ### Do children need a fishing licence? - Children under 16 fish inland species free from 1 January to 20 August. Where the rights holder sells a licence they are entitled to it free in that period, and where no licence is sold they may fish without one. After 20 August children need a licence wherever one is required, and the rules are stricter in salmon, sea trout and sea char watercourses. [Rules, safety and good trips](https://finnfisk.no/en/barnefiske) ### What age can a child start fishing? - From four or five most children can hold a rod for a short while with help. What decides it is not age but whether anything happens: pick a water full of small fish, plan for twenty-minute stints, and bring food. A trip that ends in boredom costs you the next ten.