Yes, a boat fishing trip from Ramsgate is a good day out for children, and it suits them better than most people expect. The fishing here is mostly done on the bottom, close to the coast, with bait the skipper supplies, so even a seven year old gets bites rather than watching a rod for hours. The trick is choosing a short trip, a summer or early autumn date and a boat that is set up for families. Both Ramsgate boats on Reelzy, Hussler and Lady Ann, mark children as welcome and run private charters, so your family has the deck to itself.
What spoils a family trip on this coast is rarely the fish. It is the cold, a sea that gets lumpy when the wind runs against the tide, a full day that is two hours too long for a small child, or a cool box nobody remembered. This guide is about getting those right.
How old is old enough?
There is no single age, and the skippers we work with do not publish a minimum, so ask when you book. In practice it splits roughly like this.
Under six, treat it as a boat trip with some fishing in it. A parent holds the rod with them, the skipper baits the hook, and the moment a fish comes over the side is the whole point. Keep it to a few hours. Small children get cold and bored long before adults do, and the run back to the harbour can feel very long to a tired four year old.
From six to about eleven, children can really fish. Bottom fishing suits them well: a weight takes the bait down, the rod tip knocks, they wind in. On the Kent banks in summer that can mean mackerel, which often come up two or three at a time on a string of feathers, plus dogfish, which are easy to catch, feel like sandpaper and make every child shriek the first time. In autumn and winter the whiting give the same steady bites.
Teenagers can manage a full day if they want one, and a keen twelve year old may be the one asking for it. Thornback rays, smoothhounds and a decent bass are fish a teenager remembers, and a long day lets the skipper try more than one mark.
The two Ramsgate boats that take children
Both boats sail from the pontoons of Ramsgate Royal Harbour, the only harbour in Britain with the royal title, a short walk from the town and the beach.
Hussler of Ramsgate is a 26 ft charter boat for up to six people, run by Skipper Bob. It is the easiest one to fit around children because of its trip lengths: a three hour trip the skipper calls the Quick Hussle, a four hour half day and a six hour trip, all leaving at 08:00. It boards from the pontoon and can leave and return at any state of the tide, so nobody waits on the quay for the water to come up. All tackle and bait are supplied, including live bait and lures. You bring drinks, snacks, lunch on the longer trips and a cool box for the fish you keep. There is a toilet on board, and no alcohol is allowed, which most parents will see as a plus. The listing names bass, smoothhound, mackerel, skate and tope among its targets through the year, with cod and whiting in the colder months.
Lady Ann calls itself a family boat in its own name, and it is bigger, with room for up to ten. That makes it the one for a larger party: two families together, or grandparents along for the day. It fishes inshore on the bottom over local marks, with bait, tackle and as much help as you need supplied, in what the listing calls a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Tea and coffee keep coming through the day, sometimes with homemade biscuits, and whatever you catch is prepared for the table before you leave the boat, which saves you a messy job at home. It has a toilet on board, no alcohol, and the catch it names is conger eel, bass, dogfish, whiting and skate. Its main trip is a full day from 08:00 that the skipper will shape around what you want, and there is also a shorter four hour trip that leaves at 16:30. For young children the short trip is the one to ask about; check with the skipper which months it runs, as an afternoon start in midwinter means coming back in the dark.
You can compare both, and any new Kent boats, on the Ramsgate charters page or the wider UK charters page.
Which months work best with children
From June to September is the friendly season. The sea is at its warmest, the days are long, the mackerel are in, and the bass and smoothhound are about. If your children have never been on a boat, this is when to go. Early autumn can be just as good for the fishing and quieter on the water, but the weather starts to turn.
From late autumn through winter the fishing changes to whiting, codling and cod, with rays and dogfish. It can be very good fishing, and a child who loves it will not mind the cold. But it is a different kind of day: hats, gloves, shorter light and more trips called off for wind. We wrote about that side of the year in our guide to winter boat fishing in Kent. For a first family trip, wait for the summer if you can.
Whatever the month, look at the forecast with the skipper rather than on your own. The southern North Sea is shallow and can stand up quickly when the wind blows against the tide. A skipper who postpones because of the weather is doing you a favour, and when a trip is called off as unsafe, Reelzy refunds what you paid online or moves the trip at no extra cost. Our post on what happens when a Ramsgate trip is cancelled for bad weather covers it, and the rules are in our cancellation policies. With children, keep a second date in mind before you book the first.
No licence, but there are rules on what you keep
Nobody in the family needs a fishing licence. In England you do not need one to fish in the sea, from a boat or from the shore; the rod licence covers freshwater fishing only.
What does apply is a set of rules on keeping fish, mostly for bass, which have a minimum size and a daily limit per angler, with release only in some months. The skipper knows the current rules and will tell you on the day what can go in the cool box. It is a good thing to explain to children before you go, so a bass going back over the side feels like part of the game rather than a disappointment.
Both boats welcome catch and release. A lot of children enjoy putting a fish back as much as keeping it, especially if the skipper shows them how to hold it with wet hands for a quick photo first.
What to pack for a child on a Kent boat
It is always colder on the water than on Ramsgate sands, even in August. This is the list we would give a friend:
- a warm layer and a waterproof jacket, even on a sunny morning
- long trousers and wellies or trainers with grip that can get fishy
- a hat, sun cream and sunglasses in summer, a woolly hat and gloves the rest of the year
- plenty of snacks they already like, water and, on a longer trip, a proper lunch
- a full change of clothes and a towel left in the car
- a seasickness remedy suitable for their age if they are prone to it, taken before you leave the harbour
- a cool box with ice packs for the fish you take home
Ask the skipper before the day whether the boat carries a life jacket in your child’s size. Every trip starts with a safety briefing on life jackets, but a jacket only works if it fits the child’s weight, so if in doubt bring your own and check the fit on the pontoon.
Seasickness is the thing parents worry about most. A plain breakfast, a shorter trip, staying out on deck and looking at the horizon all help. Children who are busy fishing tend to feel it less than adults sitting still.
Telling the skipper about the children
When you send a booking request, give the children’s ages and how much fishing they have done. A skipper who knows there is a six year old on board will pick a sheltered mark close in, keep the first bites coming and leave the long run to the wrecks for another day. If one of them has a particular fish in mind, say so: a skipper can plan for mackerel in July, but not for a cod in August.
For anyone in the group who has never been to sea before, our guide to a first sea fishing trip from Ramsgate walks through the day from the briefing to the fish on the pontoon.
If you are ready, message Hussler about a three or four hour morning, or Lady Ann about the short afternoon trip or a full day for a bigger family, with your dates and the children’s ages, and ask about child-size life jackets in the same message.
FAQ
Can children go on a fishing trip from Ramsgate? Yes. Both Ramsgate boats on Reelzy, Hussler and Lady Ann, mark children as welcome and run private charters, so your family has the boat to itself. Tell the skipper the children’s ages when you book.
What is the best trip length for young children? Three or four hours. Hussler runs a three hour and a four hour trip from 08:00, and Lady Ann has a shorter four hour trip from 16:30 as well as a full day.
Do children need a fishing licence to sea fish in Kent? No. Nobody needs a licence to fish in the sea in England. The skipper will explain the rules on which fish can be kept, such as the minimum size for bass.
When is the best time of year for a family fishing trip from Ramsgate? June to September, when the sea is warmest, the days are long and mackerel and bass are about. Winter fishing for whiting and cod is good but colder, with more trips called off for wind.
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