Could you ask your dad a question for me?
I had an interesting encounter with neighbors on ice last winter about kids and lines/limits.
The regs state that a person under the age of 18 is deemed to have a license. It specifies that you must be living in Ontario, among other things. It doesn't specify whether you should be able to hold the rod. Or reel in fish. Or have hands, eyes or a brain for that matter.
Now, to the question at hand.
Let's say you have a young kid who can hold the rod but not quite reel a fish in. Can that kid have his/her own lines and limit?
My niece was ice fishing with us and we put in 2 holes for her. The neighbor comes over and says I have too many lines. I tell him we have 8 lines, 4 people, including the niece. He laughs, says "ok" and walks off. 45 minutes later the MNR pays us a visit. It was obvious that he called them in. By that time we had pulled up the lines and had no fish with us. MNR officer checked all paperwork etc, had no objections but wasn't sure what to do about the alleged extra 2 lines. Said it would be a "matter of discretion" and left.
I can see both sides of the argument here but I have to lean toward the kid having 2 lines, almost regardless of age. I don't see how it's a matter of discretion, seeing how the rules are written plainly. She's under 18, she gets a limit, at the very least. We're introducing a kid to the wonderful world of fishing at a young age, why make it more painful to be a good parent?
/rant over