Fishing at PO or elsewhere at WDW

[Selket]

I have a 5 yr old (will be about 6 when we are there) that loves to fish. I'm not really looking for a professional fishing style experience - just fun but where you really could catch something (and release). I read in the new Passporter that the PO-riverside has an area with "cane" fishing poles by a lake they keep stocked with fish. Anyone try fishing there? Is it open year round? Do they sell bait or ? Do you rent the poles? Do you need a fishing license?

Are there other places around WDW to fish?

Still trying to figure out when to go (sometime after Sept this year) and where to stay! I've stayed at the POFQ and liked it. Would love to stay at the Contemporary but not sure the budget will allow that this time.

Thanks!
Carol

 

[jaguar9748]

Fishing at POR is solely for fun. Cost is around $20 for 30 minutes. Cost includes pole, bait and fun. According to DH they are now using dough for bait. According to DD the fish are so smart that they've learned to eat the dough off the hook and not be caught! It was a fun 30 minutes!!

 

[Simba's Mom]

You used to be able to fish at the pond at the center of FW (can't remember the name-Settlement(?)). Don't know if you still can, but it's worth a trip to check it out-it's so great over there. And you can fish at OKW, don't know the details, just know it's not a big organized fishing trip thing there, just drop a pole in and fish.

 

[johnnyr]

I fished at WDW on two different stays. One was from WL. They picked us up on the beach. The other was from CR. Pickup was at the marina. I booked the fishing excursion about 90 days in advance. You get your own private guide and boat. They were great. Very knowledgable. They had the greatest stories about some of their past excursions with guests. Go to fish the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake! At one point were wer tired of catching bass. My daughter was 5 at the time. She had a blast as well as myself and my wife. It was a little pricey, but a whole lot of fun. I highly recommend it.

 

[Pumbaa_]

We booked a fishing excursion in September. 4 of us (all adults)went on the trip. We left the BW and fished all around the lake area in front of MGM and then headed into the EPCOT countries area. We were able to watch the sunrise over the countries.

The fishing was okay, we all caught something, nothing large, but it was a great experience being up early and watching the countries in the early morning.

We want to do this again. Next time we want to do it from Bay Lake and Seven Seas lagoon. If you like fishing this is alot of fun. It is about 2 hours (ours went about 30 minutes longer, the guide was having too much fun ), drinks are provided.

 

[Janet2k]

We have only done the guided fishing excursions but have always had the best time while on them. They are now a WDW vacation tradition and sometimes we book more than one per vacation (my husband is a fishing freak so it keeps him happy). I am deathly allergic to fish and have never fished while on the excursions but still have had the most incredible time. I highly recommend them. Our favorite fishing guide is "Missy." She's wonderful with both the adults and the children.

If you take a look at my photos, you will see proof that my young daughter has caught fish while on a WDW fishing excursion (I should note that my son easily out-fishes both my daughter and my husband, which drives my husband crazy, hee hee). Of course my young daughter sometimes gets bored during our trips and our fishing guide winds up doing most of the work except for reeling in the fish, but still, that's really the only part of fishing that most young children like anyway.

This is just my humble opinion and others' opinions may vary, as it should be. Click here to see some of my fishing photos.

Here is the link to the official WDW webpage that is devoted to "fishing" information: click here to go to official WDW website. Information is listed there for both cane pole fishing and excursions. Whatever you decide to do, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. Make sure to write all about it upon your return from vacation.

 

[Selket]

Thanks to everyone for the fishing info. My son will also be old enough for the Jr. fishing excursion so that might be fun for him too. I think this will be a good non-park activity for us!

Carol

 

[thelongs@iquest.net]

I remember having five of us fish at POR for about $15.00 per hour for up to 5 people. This included 5 cane poles and bait, and it was catch and release. We had a great time doing this.

 

[kimmar067]

...the "fishin' thing", too while at DxL (sorry, old habits die hard!) and my kids had a BLAST!! (especially my youngest DS, who was 6 at the time!) It was one of those not-an-all-day-or-too-expensive activity when my 3 DS's didn't really want to go swimming and I didn't feel like giving them a big pile of quarters to feed the machines at the arcade....