I'm for a youth license, but not any youth ! Youths  12-15 years old should have to get one at a very resonable rate. I have seen 16-17 year olds that I knew how old they were fishing w/o a license claiming to be only 15 . It's too hard to judge accurate age between those years. Just a thought.
The mentor hunting license if different. It you don't buy one you can't hunt under 12 and hunters safety is passed. Fishing has no "safety net" with teens fishing, proof of age (under 16) without a license.
 
 

Youth licenses for 12-16 year olds 5 bucks.....Cheap date to take a kid fishing for a year.
 
Fish for Free days should be C&R only.
You gots no licenses you keep no fish...

All of these theories are approaching the issue from the viewpoint of an avid angler.  In "fishing families" these kids will be fishing, and getting whatever license is required regardless, because they've been brought up with it.  Really, though, that's not who these new regs are aimed at...it's the kids who are part of families that don't really fish much, if any at all, who may discover that they love it.  While this may happen at a very young age, it's far more likely they'll discover it as a young teenager or preteen.  This in mind, I think it's absolutely counterproductive for the PFBC to place any sort of financial barrier between these kids and full enjoyment of the fishing experience.
 
Family picnic at the lake and they see their uncle catching a few bass after dinner..."Hey, that looks cool!"  "I'd let you try it, but you need a license."
 
A bunch of friends getting together to go fish..."You want to come along?" "Sure!" "Okay, you just need to grab your license at walmart, it's only like $5." "Eh, you're still planning on hitting the movies later right?  I'll just meet up with you then."
 
Camping trip with their Boy/Girl Scout troop..."Wow, there's a lot of fish jumping in the creek!"  "I brought a rod, of you want to give it a shot..." "I would, but I don't have a license."
 
Making it at all more difficult for kids to give fishing a try is, imho, the absolute worst thing the PFBC can do.

I'll have to agree with cold on this one.. leave the kids alone.....
 
if, by any means, they find out that fishing is "pretty cool" because they get to learn the sport for free...
 
the PFBC will have a lifetime of them buying licenses and tags for trout or Erie....
 
Get the dang elected officials to approve a license increase,  if they need money so bad... as bings said == a $5.00 increase would not hurt any adult angler....

Dr. Trout
I'll have to agree with cold on this one.. leave the kids alone.....
 
if, by any means, they find out that fishing is "pretty cool" because they get to learn the sport for free...
 
the PFBC will have a lifetime of them buying licenses and tags for trout or Erie....
 
Get the dang elected officials to approve a license increase,  if they need money so bad... as bings said == a $5.00 increase would not hurt any adult angler....

 
Dr. Trout, are you really a doctor?

bingsbaits
If the parents do not have the time to get their child a $5 license, they more than likely will not have the time to take them fishing...

 
It's not a time issue, it's just placing yet another barrier between kids and fishing.  I'd be against it even if it was 100% free, "just fill out a registration form online and print off your license" to be legal to fish.
 

I don't see $5 as any kind of financial barrier.

 
Again, from the cheap seats out here, it's not really about any specific cash amount being unreasonable...the entire premise of making a kid jump through a bureaucratic hoop to go fishing is directly in opposition to their stated goal of trying to get kids involved.
 

You take those same to kids to one movie and you are paying one heck of alot more than $5 for a couple "hours" entertainment..
Hell, one video game could pay for the whole family to fish for a year.

 
True, but in all likelihood, they're getting that game anyway.  And once they have it, it's always going to be easier to stay at home and play video games, so the fishing already has that strike against it...why stack the deck even farther against it and make them have to shell out even more money?
 
This discussion has occurred on this site many times before, and I still have yet to see, regardless of funding, how forcing kids into the gears of bureaucracy any earlier than necessary can be construed as a good thing.  The PFBC mismanages the money I give them, why would I want them to be able to mismanage a kid's money too?

Good points all. Guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.
 
Is this where we start calling each other names and insulting our in-laws...
 
I wouldn't mind seeing an adult licenses increase.
Would also like to see the mismanagement of funds cleaned up to, but that is just the government bureaucracy in action and probably isn't able to be fixed.
With increasing costs and declining revenue it isn't going to get any better.
 
Although I must admit one of my best days fishing was last year at our family reunion.
I took 8 kids down to the pond fishing for the first time and had a riot.
No bigger smile on a childs face than when they catch their first fish.
Most of those kids were under 12 though so a youth license would have been a moot point. 

Most of those kids were under 12 though so a youth license would have been a moot point.

 
But only because in your suggestion, you made the cutoff 12.  What if the age limit was 8?  Or better yet, 10...and half of that group could fish, but the other half would have had to just sit and watch, or fish illegally?

I have to disagree with DarDys as I am nearing that upper number.  What I would like to add is how many parents do not hesitate to shell out $25 to $200 for their kids to play baseball, softball, soccer, dance or any other activity without batting an eye?  Many of these start at the age of 3 with no reservation by the parents. 

bubbaman
are there that many 17's out there without a license putting a dent in the fish population .

You would be surprised; I knew several kids way back in high school who never bought a fishing license when they were in their teens 16, 17, or 18 and cleaned out all the local streams in the evenings after school all spring.  They were stocking up for an annual summer fish fry bash the one kid would have every year with several kegs of beer, a bonfire, and lots of people.
 
IMO; Another thing PFBC could do is just stop stocking trout in every single trickle that nearly dries up during the summer.   Pick the top half of PA streams that are the coldest and and have the best holding properties during summer months and only stock those streams.  No need to stock every trickle where birds and coons can pluck the fish out at will, or where the water is so low that all the fish within 1 or 2 miles migrate to a single hole in the stream.

Conococheague
They can't seem to focus on anything that is non-electronic. Are they typical? Unfortunately I think the answer is yes. These are my step-sons and I've only been in the pic for a few years so they did not come from an outdoor sports type atmosphere. They are willing to fish occasionally with me now, but if they are required to obtain a license of some type in the future, even a $1 one, they will be fine to hang up the sport entirely. Too much hassle. Easier to play video games.

So basically your saying you wouldn't bother taking 5 minutes at Walmart and spending $2 on those kids to buy them a license so they can fish?    To much hassle huh, that's kinda sad. 
 
I think it's only typical of kids who are allowed to sit around the house and play video games non-stop all day for hours on end.  It's simple;  Put daily or weekly limits on electronics/tv (you're the parent not a best friend) and maybe they will find some other interests or go outside and play once in a while.

SteelSlayer77

Conococheague
They can't seem to focus on anything that is non-electronic. Are they typical? Unfortunately I think the answer is yes. These are my step-sons and I've only been in the pic for a few years so they did not come from an outdoor sports type atmosphere. They are willing to fish occasionally with me now, but if they are required to obtain a license of some type in the future, even a $1 one, they will be fine to hang up the sport entirely. Too much hassle. Easier to play video games.

So basically your saying you wouldn't bother taking 5 minutes at Walmart and spending $2 on those kids to buy them a license so they can fish?    To much hassle huh, that's kinda sad. 
 
I think it's only typical of kids who are allowed to sit around the house and play video games non-stop all day for hours on end.  It's simple;  Put daily or weekly limits on electronics/tv (you're the parent not a best friend) and maybe they will find some other interests or go outside and play once in a while.

Um no. That is basically not what I was saying. I was saying that they have limited interest in outdoor sports and adding a license requirement will not help the situation. Also I am NOT their parent. They have 2 good parents. When I said they don't focus on anything non-electronic, I meant that only in terms of hobby or pastimes. These boys do what they're told, they are respectful and they do well in school, in fact the older one is attending a specialized school this year that requires a very high academic achievement level. I am certainly not going to suddenly come off like a jerk and start making rules for them to limit their activities in an effort to force them to comply with my wishes. Nobody forced me to go fishing or hunting as a kid. Thats not the answer.

I feel very lucky that I have 2 grand children (boy 4 and girl 5) who both love to be outdoors. My grandson (age 4) asked me this week when can we take the boat out fishing. I already have March 11 marked down on my calendar since it is the first trout stocking in the area. They love to see the fish and help put them in the streams.  

Just be cautious not to over do it.  If you take them out on the boat, it's not nearly as easy to pack up and move onto the next activity if fishing is slow, as it is from shore.  I made the mistake with my daughter when she was 4.  She was extremely interested in fishing the first 10 or so times, to the point where she was casting on her own, setting the hook, wanting to bait the hook and asking me out of the blue when we would go fishing again.  Then I over did it on the boat, thinking maybe hitting a different spot and catch more would help when she started complaining (about an hour into the trip).  Maybe if the fish cooperated, it would have been a different outcome, but they didn't and for a while, fishing became "too boring" for her.  Adding that additional hour, then another hour to get off of the lake, turned what was my blossoming fishing buddy into a tantrum and almost complete loss of interest.  Kids that age don't have a lot of patience or too long of an attention span.  If not in the right mood, even 10 minutes between catching fish could be a bad day.  Take a box of toys and other stuff to kill the slow times.  Live minnows, even if not using for bait are hours of fun!  Not sure where you are planning to go, but lakes with playgrounds are definitely the best.  Take pit stops at the park or even an island to explore, ect (take some buckets to collect acorns or other stuff).  I have been taking it a bit slower with my son.  Taking him from shore most of the time, or on the boat only when there is an easy way out (wife or someone drive seperately), just in case.  My daughter is slowly warming back up to it.  She really enjoys when her cousins are fishing with her, and will go out for an hour or two when we have picnics or do cabin/camping trips.  She also really enjoys driving the boat & stopping at the islands and exploring.  Just make sure you keep your expectations in check.  You very well may only get to launch the boat and put it back on the trailer... Exposing them young is a good building block if done right.  If not, then it can backfire like mine did.  Hopefully my daughter comes around, but I'm really hoping the adjustment that I made with my son, has him as my first mate for years to come.

Plus you nevewr know how a kid will react to the waves. even slight ones can make a kid sea sick. Get a youngstewr puking in the boat and they will never go out with you again.

 
Might as well not even limit that one to kids.  Happened to me a few times in my teens, and I have absolutely no desire to ever set foot on a boat bigger than a rowboat or canoe ever again.
 
My dad is always trying to get me excited for the idea of a salmon charter or walleye trip, and while I love fishing with him, I just absolutely do not want to get on a boat like that.  Just about the only thing that I've even considered was a few years ago when we were kicking around the idea of a vacation to the Outer Banks, going on a small boat in the inshore coves and lagoons.  That never panned out, but even then, I was mostly agreeing to consider it because he really wanted to do it.  When I went to the Outer Banks with friends, I waded.